Cat Heads or Goat Heads or 3 Cornered Jacks are extremely pointy and painful prickles. The word prickle hardly does justice. They are hardcore barbs and no matter which way they are on the ground, there is always one that points up, ready to pierce a sneaker or a thong or a bare foot (and they bloody hurt!) On our first cycle in Forbes, we got 3 flat tyres between us. Dave did repairs day after day after Goat Head after Cat Head. Now we own puncture-less bike tyre tubes. Hopefully they are true to their name.
Poor Vic gets them in her paws all the time. The first time we encountered these prickly pests at Split Rock Dam, we saw Vic doing a funny dance through the dead grass and we laughed - until I checked her paws. She had 13 in her front left paw, 11 in her front right paw and 8 in each of her back paws. Poor little chicken. As we pulled them all out of her pads, they pierced our finger tips and so on and so on. The 3-pronged bastards!
Vic won't walk on grass anymore. She’s strictly a pathway walker now but she’s not safe on the footpath or on the road or on gravel. She still steps on the odd one or two. Now she just halts, looks at me, holding one paw raised for me to remove the offending 3 Cornered Jack. Working dogs on farms in affected areas wear little leather doggy shoes. Wonder if I can get my hands on some?
