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RAGWORT“Ragwort has been shown to contain several different pyrrolozide alkaloids (PAs) which are poisonous to horses, cattle, sheep, deer, goats, pigs, dogs and humans.”[1] If this statement has alarmed you, then good! Because it is rife in this area! The only way to get rid of it is to pull it up and burn it. Make sure that you wear rubber gloves whilst doing so or you could end up feeling nauseous - it can get into the bloodstream through the skin. What does it look like? In the spring it starts growing in rosettes:
In the summer it grows to about 1 metre in height and has clusters of very pretty yellow flowers.
As a horse owner I am very well aware of the painful way that animals die once this weed is ingested. Horses usually avoid eating it because it is bitter but, if it is allowed to get into hay crops, then it becomes more palatable. There is no remedy or cure because once it has been diagnosed in animals it is too late to save them. I do everything I can to protect my horses but find that I am having to spend many, many hours of back breaking work pulling up this obnoxious weed from my pasture. This because other people, who admittedly, may not be aware of Ragwort’s toxic properties, make no effort to eradicate it from their land. It is no good cutting it down before it seeds because Ragwort grows in a similar way to dandelions. Every cut increases the amount of root growth. If any reader should like a copy of the article on “Ragwort” which was published by the British Horse Society then please contact me. Irene Measures [1] British Horse Society Magazine March/April 2001 p.25
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March 26, 2007 © the content of this website is copyright to Jonty Wild and/or the respective authors/contributors |
Pirton
