Yikes... thank goodness there aren't any of those where I live! Seem like a barefooter's worst nightmare! Thankfully, the foliage around here is much more barefoot-friendly, so the worst thing I come across is the occasional bur or nettle.
They are. As you can see from the first picture showing the whole plant, they look rather benign. But those spiked burrs hide under the leaves. The spikes are about a quarter inch long...long enough to penetrate most callous tissue. And they're a bitch to pull out, because the spikes surround the seed, so you must grip the little suckers by the spikes.
Would it be a good idea to carry a pair of surgical pliers/medical forceps/jewellers pliers/fish bone tweezers on you just in case you have to deal with them? You can Ebay those for like 10-15 bucks. I now carry a Victorinox Cybertool on me precisely, because I'm anticipating that the Vic mini pliers could come in handy some day for picking things off my feet: Steel fingers don't give a shit about thorns.
Yes, carrying such a tool is a good idea...especially if you're out in the middle of nowhere. I'd think ordinary tweezers would probably be sufficient...they don't stick in THAT hard...it's just hard to grab a hold of them because of all the spikes. Ordinary tweezers would also be able to get out slivers.
Damn! It looks like a freakin' wristwatch! Good thing we sensible humans wear those dangerous things on our arms, way off the ground where they could really damage our... What! Excuse me?? It IS a wristwatch??? Well, WTF was it doing on the ground like a freakin' goathead? SIZE comparison??? Are you shittin' me??? Oh. I get it now. Never mind.
We haven't had goathead issues in ages. They spikes were about 1/8 of an inch, so a nuisance but ultimately something that could be ignored. They'd get stuck to your feet until your soles were completely coated. We dumped a ton of weed killer because they suck and one of my kid's bicycle tyres got punctured by a very big one.
