Cheat grass and other fox tails

I don’t like posting negative things that might keep others off the Chukar Mountains, but the cover is extremely high this year. That’s great for the hunting season, once the seeds have fallen. If we don’t have bad fires, the birds will have plenty of cover to hide in. But as the cheat dries, as well as other covers, the fox tails and seeds stick to everything and can do more damage to dogs than imaginable.

One of the worst injuries I’ve seen to a dog was Greg Munther’s shorthair, Oakley. He had impaled something and opened up his chest. The opening was unbelievable, but he was back hunting in Arizona soon after the vet sewed him up.

I only mentioned that and showed the picture just to compare what a piece of cheat grass could do. The hole a piece of cheat makes might not be that big, but it can be just as dangerous. I know of a dog that lost vision in one eye because of a cheat. Another dog lost two toes. Several dogs have had abscesses opened up by the vets, who found cheat working its way in. One of my past GSP’s had an abscess. The vet opened it up, and by the time he got to the piece of cheat, it had worked its way for at least two feet down its side. The vet invited me in to watch the scope as he followed the track of the piece of cheat. It’s bad stuff.

I took the dogs for a short hike yesterday. This is what an open vest pocket picked up.

I pulled several off the dogs. One lodged in Layne’s eye. It might have come out by itself. Ears, eyes, and between the toes are potentially dangerous places. Check your mutt over after each hike. Save yourself a trip to the vet.