Nature, in her inestimable wisdom, created many things far in advance of the invention of what they were designed to destroy. Ice, of course, was created to make automobiles skid off the road. Meanwhile, it peacefully worked on its long term goals of splitting giant boulders through frost wedging. “Someday you’ll be sand, mua-ha-ha-ha.”
Another manifestation of sadistic forethought is the goat head thorn. Sure, it stuck in peoples’ shoes, socks and trousers for centuries, but who cared? Then came the bicycle tire…
It’s a pretty enough ground-level vine, but…
“I’m just trying to propagate my species,” it will tell you of its wandering little sadistic seeds, “I’m stuck here in the ground. It’s up to my kids to see that we find a new patch of earth on which to grow. We don’t ask for much. Just a barren, dry, forgotten piece of somewhere, ignored by everyone, likely to be used as a shortcut…”
“Summer is the season of inferior sledding” - Inuit proverb 
holy mackerel! Those things look lethal!
They can decimate an unsuspecting, unprotected bicycle tire. 😦
!!!!!!
I never knew the proper name for them until now, but those things wrecked my childhood and a few bicycle tires. Hahahaha!
No kidding. I ended up walking 6 miles down a canyon because of those monsters. 🙂
I have rose bushes like that. They were bred expressly to protect property from intruders. At my house, it protects the garden from intruders — and gardeners. You have to wear arm-long leather gloves or they will shred your clothing AND you. But such pretty roses!
I have a rose that’s pretty sinister but not as sinister as the hedge I planted in CA. The roots had thorns and the gophers wouldn’t touch them. ❤
Reminds me of the sand burrs I stepped on as a barefoot child in the country. Builds character.
Ah yeah, sand burrs are sweet bits of velcro in comparison. I’m sure you can find these in LA.