# Help! I'm being attacked by stickers!! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 31, 2003, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-im-being-attacked-by-stickers/192193 "2003-07-31T18:57:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![leatherheather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ea666f/32.png) [@leatherheather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leatherheather)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-im-being-attacked-by-stickers/192193/1 "2003-07-31T18:57:25Z")
I live in a duplex, which I rent, and my landlord takes care of the “lawn care”. This means he has some guy cut the grass once a month. Meanwhile, huge masses of stickers are growing in my front and back yard, and they are migrating inside and are getting stuck in my carpet. I can’t even walk around barefoot anymore! Does anyone know of a good solution to this problem? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-im-being-attacked-by-stickers/192193/2 "2003-07-31T19:14:03Z")
Well, I was going to recommend rubbing alcohol and GOO-GONE, but evidently this is some other variety of “stickers”. I like leather, though. ---
**Author:** ![leatherheather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ea666f/32.png) [@leatherheather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leatherheather)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-im-being-attacked-by-stickers/192193/3 "2003-08-01T16:34:56Z")
I’m glad you like leather, but I seriously need help with my sticker problem… anyone else got any suggestions? The stickers I’m talking about grow on weeds and then fall off and stick to everything with their painfully barbed spurs. ---
**Author:** ![Phage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a4c791/32.png) [@Phage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phage)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-im-being-attacked-by-stickers/192193/4 "2003-08-01T17:26:51Z")
What you need is a small, fluffy, hyperactive dog that you can easily train to orbit you in tight circles while alerting others to it’s presence with supersonic yips. The fluffy fur will quickly fill with all of the stickers (called burrs down here), which can then be shaved off and discarded as a convenient unit. I suggest having at least three of these dogs on hand, as it may take a few days for the hair to grow back to an effective trapping length. In the early stages the dogs may need shaving after a single day of use, but as the burr supply is depleted you will find that a dog may last for as much as four days before needing to be shaved. The eight days of captivity will leave the replacement eager to return to work as well. ---
**Author:** ![Waverly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@Waverly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waverly)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-im-being-attacked-by-stickers/192193/5 "2003-08-01T20:28:08Z")
I’ve always referred to them as burrs. Is it too simple to suggest that you get rid of the offending plants? The burrs are going to blow around and attach themselves to anything they can until you do. A strong shop vac may pull them up without you having to pick them up one at a time. ---
**Author:** ![emmaliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-im-being-attacked-by-stickers/192193/6 "2003-08-01T21:36:52Z")
**leatherheather** , can you describe these stickers and the plants they grow on in a little more detail? ---
**Author:** ![herman\_and\_bill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f1d935/32.png) [@herman\_and\_bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/herman_and_bill)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-im-being-attacked-by-stickers/192193/7 "2003-08-01T23:34:25Z")
I always called thistle plants and briars and other plants that don’t have burrs but thorns stickers ---
**Author:** ![leatherheather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ea666f/32.png) [@leatherheather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leatherheather)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2003, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-im-being-attacked-by-stickers/192193/8 "2003-08-02T16:28:09Z")
The plants that the stickers (or burrs) grow on are tall, slender weeds. They are all over the place. They stick to people’s pant legs as they brush against them. I do have a dog but he’s a pug, not fluffy at all. The burrs also get stuck in his face sometimes. How can I get rid of the offending plants without killing the rest of the “grass”? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2003, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-im-being-attacked-by-stickers/192193/9 "2003-08-02T17:08:49Z")
Go to the local garden store and get yourself a long handled scythe. Mine has a handle like a shovel or hoe, and a 12" serrated blade at the bottom. It’ll cost ~$10. You swing it like a golf club. Whack the plants down every month, until new seeds stop sprouting. ---
**Author:** ![leatherheather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ea666f/32.png) [@leatherheather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leatherheather)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2003, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-im-being-attacked-by-stickers/192193/10 "2003-08-02T19:48:12Z")
That would really amuse my neighbors, to see me swinging a scythe in my front yard… should i wear a long black cape with a hood? hehe…