Cheat Grass Awn

The height of many dogs lines up well with the location of the seed pods on the grasses and contact with the grass allows the sharp lightweight grass awns to stick to the dog.

Cheat grass awn.

An awn is a hairy or bristle like appendage growing from the ear or flower of barley rye and many types of widely growing grasses. Cheatgrass also called downy brome is an annual or winter annual invasive grass originally from the mediterranean region. Cheatgrass is a prolific seed producer. Grass awns from weeds like cheatgrass and foxtail first become attached to a dog s coat while running or walking through these tall grasses.

Its long awns can easily stick to socks. Lethargy anorexia pain or signs of drainage. Whether you call them awns mean seeds timothy foxtails cheat grass june grass downy brome or any other number of colloquial names to dogs they generally mean one thing and that s trouble. Seeds typically do not remain viable for more than two or three years.

It is an absolute battle to get rid of this grass completely although with some professional help you can manage to get your lawns completely free from this pesky menace in no time. Cheatgrass also has an early lifecycle beginning to grow immediately after snow melt. Growing anywhere from 4 to 30 inches high it has dense hairs on its leaf sheathes. The awns stick to the clothing of humans and the hair and fur of animals which is one way cheatgrass disperses its seeds.

Cheat grass in the nose can cause intense sneezing fits and nasal discharge and awns stuck behind the third eyelid usually cause squinting and rubbing of the eye sometimes with severe swelling of the inner eyelids.