Help with Plant/Weed ID

[Liz]

Not a plant matter but... a few years ago when I pointed out to my late Mother's landlords that they had umpteen nests of nasty caterpillars (chenilles processionaires) in the many trees in the gardens of Mum's and other rental properties they owned they shrugged and said 'never heard of it, is it an English thing to worry about them?' ) Duh. Even when I gave them links, including one showing the problems around their seaside place in the Landes they still shrugged!

[Spardo]

[mention]Liz[/mention] uncomfortable for us, but for the dogs, very dangerous. They only have to curiously sniff them to get hairs in their airways which can be fatal.

[Veem]

That is a good question, Exile, and one we have been asking for years ! Could it be due to a reluctance to acknowledge that it was recognised long ago by Anglophone countries ?
It has been acknowledged by most vets for quite a while now - exactly the same vets who told me 25 years ago that the ragwort growing in France wasn't the same and that it wasn't toxic for horses ....

I wonder whether a French horsey friend of mine also has a point. She's a fully trained instructor and also trained with a great pal of Blaze's, Nicolas Blondeau. When we first met, despite running her own livery yard and school, Corinne was totally unaware of the dangers of ragwort. Since learning about the dangers from me long ago, she has become a bit of a crusader amongst French owners.

As for vets, she told me many years ago that their inherent French arrogance can make it difficult for them to accept new information from 'foreigners'. It is also her view that as most up to date research is published in English (either from the UK, the USA or Australia) and is not translated into French, the vets, for the most part, have no access to it.

[Blaze]

As for vets, she told me many years ago that their inherent French arrogance can make it difficult for them to accept new information from 'foreigners'. It is also her view that as most up to date research is published in English (either from the UK, the USA or Australia) and is not translated into French, the vets, for the most part, have no access to it.

I would certainly concur with that ! I remember commenting (very tactfully) about the amount of ragwort at a breeder friend's place and she rather brushed it off. But when I returned there a week or so later, there wasn't a ragwort plant to be seen ! I imagined she'd googled it as soon as I'd gone
[mention]Veem[/mention] Nicolas B is doing very well, as are many of his former student, particularly those who specialise in breaking-in.