Ugh - Goathead Season is Here

[Ben]

Well, the goatheads (AKA puncturevine) are back. I was just outside and saw some of them sprouting. They're a problem over much of the west. There were quite a lot of them on my property when I moved here, but as I learned about them, I've reduced them by probably 70%.

They still pop up though, especially on roads and bare areas, and I think the cows help spread them along their trails. Steve absolutely hates them. He removes them from his paws with his mouth, and he's really good at it, but I'm still always afraid he might swallow one. I always keep an eye on him when we walk and have for the most part trained him to wait for me to remove them from his paws.

They die really easy with 24D, but you have to stay on top of them. I'll do a full patrol for them one day, then a couple days later there's at least as many more that have popped up. I've taken to keeping a 1 gallon sprayer with 24D in my UTV and just stopping to spray them whenever I see them, to try and get them before they flower and make the spikey seed heads.

[Brad Johnson]

They're a problem around here, too. I used a Grampa's Weeder for them. Worked well, but I was just dealing with a modest yard.

Yeah, they spread like wildfire, especially if you have cattle. The heads can lay dormant for years. Maybe decades.

Brad

[WLJ]

Now I got this image in my head of goat heads popping up out of the ground.

[dogmush]

Sound like sand spurs.  Those MF's spread everywhere.

https://backshortly.com/motorcyclestrucking/sandspirs/

[AZRedhawk44]

Yup, we've got 'em too.

I have a cyclic battle with Alexis.  She has a fit over me using "chemicals" in the yard to control bugs or weeds.  Eventually, the bermuda grass spreads through the various flower beds or gardens, the dogs get goathead thorns in their feet from where they grow in the shop driveway, scorpions start to appear in the house or black widows start to encroach in areas and she starts freaking out.  I use groundclear where appropriate on the weeds, Suspend where appropriate for the scorpions and spiders, about 2-3 monthly applications of it, and the problem goes away for about 2 years.

[Ben]

Sound like sand spurs.  Those MF's spread everywhere.

https://backshortly.com/motorcyclestrucking/sandspirs/

Yeah, sounds similar. I had seen them in some parts of CA, but nowhere near how they grow out here. In this part of Idaho, from JUN-AUG, there are always big "goathead eradication parties", where people get together and pull up the goathead (mostly libs who ride bikes, so they hand pull vs using chemicals, but good on them for doing something). They get pretty intricate with GPS mapping and stuff to keep track.

Where I fish the Owyhee River in OR, the stuff will grow as thick as lawn. My first time scouting there, I was unaware and had Steve with me. He jumped out of the truck and right into a mature patch, and had multiple stickers in all four paws. It would have been comical watching him try to figure out what to do if I didn't feel so sorry for him. 

I have high ply truck tires on both my vehicles, so the goatheads just stick without doing anything and then break off on the highway. I could see some car tires getting punctured though. My Polaris came with really crappy low ply factory tires, and I would get leaks on those. I switched to better tires there, and that problem disappeared. I still hate the things though. I just now got back in the house from 45min of goathead patrol around the house, driveway, and backyard.

[Brad Johnson]

Sound like sand spurs.  Those MF's spread everywhere.

Hate, hate, hate them. Stick to everything and the thorns are almost microscopic. Getting them out with your fingers is an exercise in futility, you just end up with more thorns in you. Any stick at all usually means a sore spot. Thorns left unremoved will eventually fester and come out on their own, but only after being a painful annoyance for a couple of days.

They're called grass burrs around these parts. They thrive in heat-stressed sandy/rocky soil, something we have in abundance. They'll take over if left unchecked. Good thing is you can pretty much get rid of them by watering well and bagging when you mow.

Brad

[zahc]

In this part of Idaho, from JUN-AUG, there are always big "goathead eradication parties", where people get together and pull up the goathead (mostly libs who ride bikes, so they hand pull vs using chemicals, but good on them for doing something).

It's mostly liberals who ride bikes?
Mostly liberals who get flat tires?
Mostly liberals who contribute to community cleanup efforts?
What do conservatives do? I'm trying to recalibrate what people think conservative values actually are. If there was one thing that could transcend politics, I would think it would be hatred of goatheads.

Also chemicals don't make the the vines disappear. The goatheads stick around for years, long after the plant is dead. The point of pulling up the vines is to actually get rid of the goatheads and get them off the trails.

[Ben]

It's mostly liberals who ride bikes?
Mostly liberals who get flat tires?
Mostly liberals who contribute to community cleanup efforts?
What do conservatives do? I'm trying to recalibrate what people think conservative values actually are. If there was one thing that could transcend politics, I would think it would be hatred of goatheads.

Also chemicals don't make the the vines disappear. The goatheads stick around for years, long after the plant is dead. The point of pulling up the vines is to actually get rid of the goatheads and get them off the trails.

It's mostly liberals in Boise who participate in those cleanups, from the way the local news reports it.

Chemicals absolutely get rid of the goatheads if you get them before they flower. Sure, after seed development it's pulling or torching to get the seed as well as the plant. The way you handle them in a backyard might be different than how I do it on 40 acres. I'd have to hire 100 illegals to hand pull everything.

[zahc]

It's mostly liberals in Boise who participate in those cleanups, from the way the local news reports it.

How do you know they are liberals? Does the news really interview or poll them to find out their political alignment?

[zxcvbob]

How do you know they are liberals? Does the news really interview or poll them to find out their political alignment?

Probably from the blue, pink, and green (etc) hair, the skinny jeans, and the piercings.  Still, good on 'em for getting off the couch and doing something.

[Ben]

How do you know they are liberals? Does the news really interview or poll them to find out their political alignment?

They all look like hippies and they don't like pickups.