My local park has become overrun with foxtails and I’m scared to walk my dogs there anymore, what should I do?
Location: France, Bègles. Near Bordeaux
I’m honestly not sure what to do anymore about a park near my home.
There’s a large public park near where I used to walk my dogs almost every day. Over the last couple of years, the city has been mowing less and less, supposedly to promote biodiversity.
The problem is that huge areas are now completely overgrown with tall dry grasses and foxtails (epillets). Not wildflowers, not maintained natural areas, mostly dry weeds and foxtails.
Last year, one of my dogs got a foxtail lodged deep in his nose after sniffing around there. He had to go to the emergency vet and it cost me around 500€. Since then I’ve been extremely anxious every time I go there.
This year it’s even worse, and it’s only spring. Massive patches are already growing everywhere. My dogs love this park, it’s one of the only large green spaces nearby, but now I barely dare to take them there anymore because dogs naturally want to sniff in tall grass.
I’ve contacted the city multiple times, and many other dog owners have complained too. The only answer we got was basically “dogs must be kept on leash,” which completely misses the point because my dog WAS on leash when it happened.
I understand wanting more ecological management of green spaces, but at what point does a public park become unusable or dangerous?
So I genuinely want opinions:
- Am I overreacting here?
- Is this just “normal” now in many cities?
- Should I simply give up on this park and find another place?
- Is there anything more I can realistically do to push the city to act?