Yellow Star Thistle

[guest@endurance.net]

Mary Abbott mabbott@wizwire.com
Hello everybody!  Those of you living in California will be familiar with
the issue I am bringing up, though, I checked the Ridecamp archives and
did not find much discussion on it so far. Anyhow, I have yellow star
thistle on my property and it is pretty thick this year.  (Probably
because a mountain lion killed off all but one of my pygmy goats last
winter!)  This got me to wondering... Is there any information as to WHEN
star thistle is most potent (i.e., when it is growing with the grass in
the spring, or is flowering)?  Is it still poisonous to horses once it has
dried out?  For how long?  And for how long do horses hold its toxins in
their systems?  Can it build up over a period of years?  Thank you in
advance for your responses!

P.S.:  I am in the market for some more pygmy goats, if anyone knows of
any in the Sierra Foothills area.