BOISE, Idaho — A three-year project by researchers at Boise State University is working to eradicate the invasive goathead from the City of Boise.
The puncturevine arrived in Boise from the Mediterranean in the early 20th century, according to Boise State assistant professor Trevor Caughlin. Goatheads are known to pop bike tires and hurt dog paws.
Caughlin leads a team of eight researchers - dating back to 2020 - that mapped 60 miles of pathways throughout the City of Boise. The team marked the locaiton of every goathead plant they found with a GPS.
The City of Boise provided funding for Caughlin's team to integrate their findings into a comprehensive map. The map will be available in early June.
"Hopefully, [it will] lead to a better chance of eradication across the city," Caughlin said.
The annual Goathead Festival works to remove 10,000 pounds of goatheads from the City of Boise every year. Caughlin is hopeful his team's new map will serve as a resource for the Goathead Fest to know where the puncturevines are lingering throughout the city.
"Some areas that might be overlooked in that volunteer-led process, and in particular, what we found was that areas with lower property value tended to have more goatheads," Caughlin said. "We're hoping that our map can direct people to hotspots where they might not think to look for goatheads, and then hopefully eradicate the source populations that might be spreading across the city. I think there's just less effort in control in places where people might not have the resources to spend a lot of time weeding and doing landscaping."
If anyone comes across a goathead plant, Caughlin suggests pulling the plant and putting it into a plastic bag. You should not put the plant in a compost bin, according to Caughlin.
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