Thursday, May 19, 2011

EVIL PLANT

Foxtail in the face.

I forgot to tell you about the other new and totally not-eatable thing I found during the cow hike: foxtails.

I never knew a plant could be evil, but Foxtails are completely evil. Not as evil as, say, rattlesnakes in Texas - but for a plant they're pretty nasty. Foxtails can get up your nose and in your ears and can bury into your skin.

Evil, right?

In the beginning of our hike we ran into another pug who just had one removed from his face. The whole side of his face was shaved and there was a great big cut from where the vet sliced him open. Not cool.

Seeing that poor pug's face made my human extra-paranoid about the foxtails so I got carried a lot during our hike. It was kinda cool to see things other than Dutch's butt, but I hate being carried around. I'm also kinda wondering if that's why no one would let me eat from the aid station table... y'know, because I didn't workout hard enough.

Dumb plants.

Do you have evil things like foxtails and rattlesnakes lurking around where you live?
My human never saw a foxtail until she moved here, so please let everyone know about the weird stuff in your hood that wants to hurt you. Just in case your humans don't know about it.

* * *

SPECIALNESS!
Lots of cookies and a Happy Whelp Day to Toby Moses :)

30 comments:

The Slimmer Pugs, Kitties, and Mama said...

Thanks for the birthday well wishes! I have already had a sweet potato, rawhide, and chicken twist and a nommy "Honey's Bakery" cookie. Mama said something about macky cheese for lunch'ums. I also got some cool new stuffs that I'll share later on the Slimmer puggums bloggy.
Much brotherly fist bumps,
Toby Moses Mans

Paco and Honey said...

We haven't seen it in person, but our people are sometimes on the lookout for "Giant Hogweed" (a.k.a "Giant Cow Parsley") on walks since there are huge campaigns here to get rid of it. Sounds harmless to me (cows and parsley!), but aparently it is pretty nasty if it touches you.

Minnie and Mack said...

We haven't run into anything EVIL on our walks and hikes, so far....but something deadly is Oliver the Dalmatian (sorry Dutch) at work. He wants Mack dead...and has tried a few times. We stay far away from him, with closed doors, baby gates and leashes.

Good luck with the EVIL foxtails.

Drools and licks,
Minnie and Mack

Unknown said...

Yeah, Paxton had a foxtail stuck up in his gums one time. We noticed he was scratching his face when we got back from our hike so we took him to the vet. During the examination, the vet checked his gums and sure enough there was one that was stuck up there.

Luckily, it was removed easily.

BTW, Paxton and Paco wishes Toby Moses a Happy Birthday...woof!

Anonymous said...

Cars! Don't they know it's my highway everywhere I go?

Toby Moses, we are eating golden chicken for you today ~ Puglet, you should join us !!

Sammy

Pearl and Tessa said...

TICKS...Yuk and gross! Also foxtails and rattlers as well. Reminding mom its time to pull the weeds in the garden.

Maggie the Pug in Dallas said...

Oh Puglet...you seem to always find what is wrong out there and glad you do so you can report it back to us, thank you for that! Never knew that about foxtails, seen them, but did not know to stay away from them.

We have possums in our hood, I say they are evil cuz they hiss when I try to check them out and they just look evil too!

Happy Day to Toby Moses!

Treat Lover said...

Dear Puglet,
YIKES! The foxtails sound really nasty. I don't think we have those here, unless they're related to foxes. We have foxes in our 'hood! My human is always concerned about the foxes, but I think me and Chili can take em. Someone once warned our human about birds of prey snatching us off the ground from the sky, but we've never really had anything like that happen. As far as we know, we don't have any evil plants in our 'hood, but we're not allowed to sniff lillies or certain flowers. No idea why...

XOXO,
Coco

MegaByte said...

Poison oak is another evil plant that might live near you, Puglet! It makes you super itchy and inflamed. A really big, bad rash. People are more vulnerable than dogs because dogs because fur keeps the oils away from your skin. If it gets to less furry places or you eat it (eeeek!) you'll be in for a bad time that cookies can't fix.

Anonymous said...

Bo from Sacramento says:

Hey Puglet: My mom had another dog a way long,long time ago (way before me) that got a foxtail in one of his eyes. It went behind the eyeball and the vet had to slice his eyelid and cut a chunk out of the back side of his eyeball. He also got one that went up his private part (OUCH!!!), and tried to burrow its way back out through the skin. It got severely infected, so the vet had to perform emergency surgery on him (you know, that surgery they do on boy dogs so they can't make babies???). Mom says it was pretty nasty - he almost lost his whole private part becuase of it. So, yes - foxtails are VERY, VERY EVIL, so avoid them at all costs!!!!

Happy whelp day Toby Moses!

Anonymous said...

We live in New Jersey. Not sure where that is in the world but Mom says it is right next to the Atlantic Ocean. The big huge pond with things called waves that knock little guys like me over when I'm not looking.

Waves are dangerous cause they knock you over and they bring up things like dead fish and things called sea shells that Mom says we can't ever have.

Once she had a bowl of sea shells on the table (I don't understand why you can't eat things off the table that's in a bowl) but Lea ate some of them and Mom made her eat cotton balls soaked in chicken brooth, which doesn't seem like a punishment to me.

Anyway, Mom said the cotton would bind with and coat the shells and allow Lea to poop em out. After that, the bowl of shells disappeared like magic.

Roxi, Riley and Lea (The Jersey Shore Puggles)

Anonymous said...

Puglet! Thanks for the shout out for my birthday yesterday! I live in Chicago! My mom had to work yesterday during my birthday but were going to the dog park tomorrow for my birthday!
<3 Latte

Payton said...

Eww! My mom is cringing right now after reading about all those horrible foxtail stories. We never heard of it before. I'd say the only stuff around my place is the same as Pearl and Tessa and Coco...ticks and foxes and coyotes and large birds of prey. Mom found a tick on my elbow in Chicago recently and hasn't stopped itching. Icky things.
I want to move to a place that is sunny, 70, and free of evil things...if anyone knows of such a location, let me know!
Love,
Payton

Peggy2957 said...

Hi Pug,

My human had NO idea that foxtails were so evil and is so very thankful you shared that piece of information with us today. I guess now she won't mind too much when I snatch dandilions (right off the stem) on our walks. She does want you to know that we have two VERY evil critters in our yard. The first is a skunk. He likes to prowl in the yard at night and we have had a few close encounters in the past. Fortunately we have not been sprayed. Three pups we know have not been so lucky. I certainly don't want to go through what they did to get rid of the stink. As it is I don't like getting wet so I guess I better stay away and NOT bark at the skunk next time we see it. The next EVIL critter is the WORST and that is the possum/opussum. Maggie sure was right in warning you to stay away from them. Before I came to live with my humans there was one living under the shed in the back yard. Our next door neighbors cat didn't come home one night. He was found dead behind the shed. YES, DEAD!!!! You may not know this but cats are typically more curious then dogs. This cat must have been sniffing around the possum's house under the shed when the possum jumped up and bit him in the neck. Those NASTY critters have big sharp teeth and kitty died right in his tracks. Do NOT ever try to befriend a possum. Trust me on this one.

Benny

Gabby "The Gabbinator" said...

Puglet,

The only evil thing we have in our hood, is a giant Robin. Ya know a bird with a red belly.

Since Gunnie and I do not go outside we spend a lot of time in the back window and the front window on our cat perches looking at the big wide world.

Well let me tell you that there is a giant Robin that hangs in our yard and it sits on the outside window sill and cackles and squawks at Gunnie and I with his evil bird language!

All I think about is I want to break through the screen and eat him. I bet Robin's are much taster than Gunnie's poop!

Gabby

Kellee the Caffeinated said...

Yucky, we have foxtails AND rattlesnakes!!!! Be very careful!!!!

Whitney said...

We have bunches of dangerous things in the East Bay. Opossums, racoons, skunks, wild turkeys, AND foxtails. No snakes in our yard yet, though.
Lafayette Lola

THE PUGLET said...

OK. Stupid blogger just ate my great big giant comment.

What I said was...

Giant Hogweed sounds gross. Neck-biting possums & dog-snatching birds sounds really scary.

Bo's foxtail stories make me glad my human insisted on carrying me during our hike. SUPER EVIL!

Mack, I'm sorry Ollie the Evil wants to eat you. Don't tell Dutch I said this, but those spotted dogs can be kinda crazy. Luckily, he is just weird. Unless you have testicles (and are a dog). Then he will try to eat you.

Gabby, uh, if you say that Robin is evil it must be evil. Whatever you say...

NJ Shore Puggles, my human is from the Jersey place but she never heard of the cotton ball trick. Good to know! We have a different ocean here (with much bigger waves, apparently) but I still find shells on the beach sometimes and when I do, I like to eat them. Ooops.

Anonymous said...

Puglet,

We have these nasty frogs called BOSU toads. If we try to eat them, they have poison in them that can KILL us! YIKES!

Bouncer and Chaos from Fort Lauderdale

citydog said...

Hi, Puglet.

Here in Vermont we have PORCUPINES. They're covered in quills, and if you mess with them you'll get quills stuck in you. The quills are barbed, so not only are they very painful to have removed, they migrate *inward*.

A Border Collie friend just got quilled on her face and on her side and had to go to the emergency vet. Apparently with every breath the quills in her side migrated closer and closer to her heart and lungs. The vet said she was *very* lucky her humans brought her into the ER because if they hadn't she wouldn't have lived through the night.

So please let your readers in porc areas know that a quilling isn't just painful, it's a potentially deadly emergency!

Keep away from the foxtails, they really are evil.

Iggy and Charlie (and their non-Pug friends)

Frankie_the_Pug said...

Hey Pug-
We have lots of foxtails in Oregon where we spend our summers. I hate having to be carried because they get in my eyes and face. Sometimes being a little pug isnt very much fun. :(
Frankie from Seattle

Pug Slope said...

Wow, I never realized how scary nature can be! Luckily, the only thing I have to look out for are New York City rats.

SpencerBartholomew said...

Puglet,
Like Lola said, we have lots of foxtails in the East Bay. I even saw a rattlesnake once - that really freaked out my human! One time I picked up a tick and was rushed to the vet to get it removed! Nature is brutal! Sometimes on my walks, I get picked up but I really love being carried... and at 28 pounds, that is truly love!

Happy Whelp Day to Toby Moses... I raise my paw to you!!

Anonymous said...

Hi Puglet,
Sorry for the late respone but our mom was busy..yea right.

We have cactus, coyote's, scorpions, gigantic centapeeds, buzzards the size of a Volkswagon beetle.. don't think we have foxtails at least we never saw them. And yes rattlesnakes the bad things that they are, but our dad says they keep down the rodent population.

Whatever.... Ellie, Emmitt and Eli from Texas

Deb and Daisy said...

We have hornets and wasps. If Daisy gets bitten she swells up like a whale! Off to the emergency vet so she can have a needle and IV with the cure in it. Luckily this has only happened three times in her eleven years.

Do you have crows and magpies? When they start skreeching at each other you would think it was a fire alarm! They also swoop down at Daisy like they own her yard. Go away creepy birds!

Almost at 500 said...

Umm, Puglet? You're almost at 500...just sayin'

Anonymous said...

Puglet
Oh we forgot that absolute worst of all are FIRE ANTS!!!

They bite first then sting with a stinger so you get a double whammy.

Ellie got bit on her bum, Emmitt snorted them up his nose and I got bit on my face.

And our mom is allergic to their bites so she swells up like a blow fish.

Yep FIRE ANTS.. of you see them run, run like the wind!

The 3E's from Texas

Anonymous said...

3E's... where's Puglet today?
Go find him, will ya?

Sammy

Anonymous said...

Oh no ,,,,, no Friday Puglet? I hope everything is ok and the world didn't end a day early in California before you got all the bacon & Spam you can eat!!!!

Anonymous said...

Sammy,
We put out an APB but no response!

The 3E's