Jared Buzzell of Libson, Maine, was in the right place at the right time on Thursday when he spotted a porcupine in distress.
Although Buzzell didn’t set out to perform heroic birthing duties that day, he found himself delivering a porcupine baby through pure happenstance.
Buzzell was reportedly combing the roadside in Libson for wild mushrooms thought to be a valuable herbal Chinese healing remedy when he witnessed an adult porcupine get struck by an oncoming vehicle.
Buzzell picked up the porcupine and after determining it was dead, decided to cut it open after hearing that porcupine’s can have mushroom mineral deposits in their stomach. To Buzzell’s astonishment, he found that the dead porcupine was pregnant and found himself delivering a tiny porcupine baby instead of mining for alt-med gold.
Reporter Aly Myles said that Buzzell has his hands full. “A wife, two kids, a baby, a dog and now a baby porcupine,” she reported about the young father on WMTW 8.
During the ABC interview, you can hear Buzzell’s encouragement, “He’s gonna make it. He’s gonna be healthy.”
Buzzell explained how he went about delivery the baby, “Cut the sack open and [out] fell the porcupine. Cut the umbilical cord, put it in a hat. We thought it was dead, then I started massaging it and all kind of stuff staring coming out if its lungs so it started breathing.”
Buzzell is using a toy baby bottle, an accessory for one of his daughter’s dolls, and baby formula to feed the week old pet. He says that once the baby porcupine gets a little stronger, he’s going to relinquish his temporary pet to animal rescue. He credits his uncle for telling him that porcupine’s sometimes eat the precious mushrooms, which ultimately saved a baby porcupine’s life.