Wild Parsnip Burn?

[4x4American]

My dog was grazing near some wild parsnip yesterday (not sick, he's just a grazer, always has been) and when we got home I noticed this, could this be from the parsnip?

[Magicman]

My Shepherd always got "wild barley" seeds between her toes.  They had a way of gradually working their way through the skin and deep into the flesh.  I had to take tweezers and pull them out.  It was like she knew that I was helping her because even though it had to hurt, she would lie there and let me work on her.

It kinda looked the same.

[John Mc]

Hard to tell from the picture, but it could be. That wild parsnip is nasty stuff.

Our neighbor saw a friends horse that got it fairly bad in it's mouth, and the horse's owner got it where the horse rubbed its mouth on her.

[thecfarm]

I did a google on that bad stuff. 

[John Mc]

We've got a few people in my area who are still scarred from it 5 years after they had a bad case of it. I've heard really bad cases can scar you for life. It's a prolific seed producer, so it's tough to get rid of once you have it.

If you don't have it in your area, count yourself lucky.

[4x4American]

Can I pour something on them like diesel fuel to get rid of it?  Diesel fuel is enviornmentally friendly far as I can tell.  It came out of the ground, then they made it cleaner...no? 

[John Mc]

Fair spray of 3 or 4% glyphosate (Roundup) will kill it. You might get by with lower concentration, but that's what I had mixed up, so that's what I used. It will take some time for it to die off if you spray it on a mature plant. I think it took about a week for it to turn brown the last time I did this.

You can also kill it by cutting it off an inch or more below ground level (a shovel works well, especially when the ground is soft).

Repeated mowing can kill it, but it will take several years, and you risk spreading it by mowing.

[4x4American]

Thanks, I like the shovel idea..do I risk it growing back if I bury it, like pretty much just take it and flip it 180

[goose63]

4X4American I use Range Star on all my unwanted weeds last year I had two tall cotton wood saplings all over the place it killed them all

[John Mc]

Thanks, I like the shovel idea..do I risk it growing back if I bury it, like pretty much just take it and flip it 180

I'll ask my friend who does a lot of the shovel approach and see what he does with the plants. For small quantities, I just put them in the plastic bag with my trash, but that's probably not the best solution.  He also bought a special shovel designed for this - he says a regular shovel works, but his special one works better/faster/less mis-hits. I'll see if I can find a link for you.

BTW, I'm sure you already know this, but it's best to work on this stuff after sundown. The way the wild parsnip works is that it makes the affected skin incredibly susceptible to UV light. So what you are getting is a very bad sunburn if you are out in the light and get some on you. Work after sunset, take a shower and wash your clothes. If you do still have a problem the next day when you go out in the sun, it will be FAR less severe.

As a friend of mine discovered: you do NOT want to weed-whack this stuff.

[4x4American]

Thanks for the tip on the after sunset, never thought of that!

[John Mc]

Here's the link to the Parsnip Predator shovel, along with some info on how to use it, and the parsnip life cycle in general. My friend who has been working on a major parsnip infestation swears by it. He's trying to minimize the use of chemicals, and this is the most effective alternative he has found. (Mowing can make it worse, if you mow at the wrong time.)  I'm going to borrow his shovel and try it out. From his description, I'll probably buy one.

Here is his description of what he does with the plants:

The plants will just dry up if left on the ground, as long as they are pulled/dug before going to seed. I collected them into a huge pile. Let them dry/rot all summer/fall. Then collected them into heavy duty black plastic trash bags. By that point the plants were starting to break down some and didn't puncture the bags. Eventually disposed of them as trash (which was probably not the best move). I also have an experiment where I left some under pines in the woods. Not ideal habitat. So far there are just old dry stalks under the pines. Nothing sprouting. All of this would be a worse idea if the plants had fully formed seeds.

[4x4American]

I wonder if burning them would cause anything bad to happen...or just go drop them off on state land somewhere to compost.  Not like its littering, they come from the ground