Foxtails

Foxtails  are a scourge to the dog population. 

These spiky plants, which are all over the bluff right now, have barbed needles that get embedded in our nostrils, our ears, our bellies, and between our toes. They grow low, at just the right height to present us maximum danger.

Long-haired dogs are the most vulnerable.  I've heard stories of foxtails that go in through the ear or nose, travel into soft tissue and organs, and end up cutting a dog's life off in full bloom. Two dogs in my friend Tucker's family died that way. 

 I have short, curly hair, so foxtails are more of an inconvenience than a mortal danger for me.  But being a civic-minded dog, I am stirred to engagement.  Maybe I should organize a protest.