Foxtail watch
Updated today
Outside the growing season, risk is low
Foxtail and other awned grasses produce barbed seed heads that burrow into a dog's paws, ears, eyes and skin. The map shows where they have been recorded near East Village.
Risk map
Recent reports
Who to tell
A neighbourhood heads-up, for information. Reporting here does not tell the Park, the council or a vet.
If your dog is limping, shaking its head or licking a paw after a walk, call your vet. Sightings here warn neighbours; they do not get grass cut.
What to look for
Foxtails are bushy, cylindrical seed heads on tall grasses. Meadow and marsh foxtail, wall barley, rye-grass and rough meadow-grass are the common culprits around E20. As they dry through summer they break into barbed “awns” that only travel one way: forwards, into whatever they catch on. They cluster on unmown verges, scrubland and canal margins.
After your walk: check your dog
- Paws: especially between the toes and pads
- Ears: head shaking or pawing can mean an awn is lodged inside
- Eyes: squinting, redness or discharge
- Armpits: the soft skin where the front legs meet the body
- Groin: and the belly and rear
When to see a vet
If your dog is persistently shaking its head, licking or chewing one spot, has a swollen or weeping paw, or you can see a grass seed you can't easily remove, contact your vet. Awns can migrate under the skin and need professional removal. For trusted guidance see the PDSA, RSPCA and Blue Cross. In an emergency, call your vet or an out-of-hours service immediately.
- Moderation
- Foxtail is easily confused with other grasses, so I check every sighting against the photo before it appears. Nothing goes live unreviewed, which is also why approval can take a day.
- The risk index
- Each zone scores 1–10 daily from approved sightings, iNaturalist observations and how far into the season we are.
- Seasonality
- The peak banner switches on 1 May and off 1 October automatically. Outside those dates the map stays available but unpromoted.
Report added
I check every sighting myself, usually within a day, sometimes longer if I am away. Once approved it joins the risk map and updates that zone’s index.
- I check it against the photo, usually within a day
- Once approved it appears on the map above
- That zone’s risk index recalculates the same day
