Beware the Sentry Plant!

My 2 year old Great Nephew is really starting to run around and I figured yesterday that it is time to trim up our old nasty Sentry Plant that can hurt you badly in a few different ways. So I whipped out the shovel, digging bar and serrated knife. I popped a few suckers up and trimmed some larger blades, but soon realised that my medium size chainsaw might be better for the job. I'm wearing sandals, shorts and a t-shirt btw. So I rip into this thing and all is going well; cut a few blades, load em in the truck. About 10 minutes into the chainsaw action, I start to burn everywhere I have pulp chunks on me. I know that this type of thing can be serious, from personal experience, so I immediately drop the saw and start shedding clothes as I run for the shower. The burn/itch had got fairly serious by the time I was under the cold shower. 10 minutes worth of fervent scrub and rinse with exfoliating gloves and soap finally removed the majority of the problem. I poured a cold glass of water and sat down in the cool house to see if it was gone, as well as hopping on the internet to see if anyone else has had similar issues. Sure enough, plenty of stories with the same outcome, generally starting with someone getting the bright idea of taking a chainsaw to one of these things. The stories ended with people getting a horrible itching and burning rash that turned into boils and took around a month to heal. Whew... glad I washed that crap off quick so I had just a minor rash yesterday. Nope, woke up this morning and the mild rash looks about four times worse and every red dot is opened up.

So if you ever find yourself trimming or pulling one of these demon agaves up, beware! Besides gouging and cutting, these suckers can put you in the hospital just by touching you.

ouch, that does not sound like a pleasant experience at all, hope it doesnt get any worse, cameron

Nasty!  Thanks for sharing that - I'm sure not too many people are aware of it.

Pics of the wounds that opened up?  That's scary stuff.

Nasty!  Thanks for sharing that - I'm sure not too many people are aware of it.

Pics of the wounds that opened up?  That's scary stuff.

This is a patch on my wrist. Oozey and sore. a few more further up on my arm, a little on my neck and right leg from the knee to my ankle pretty bad but can't see it all that well from leg hair. Sorry the camera isn't very good on my phone, but you get the gist.

Dude!  Ouch.  I'm sorry you're having to deal with that, and again thanks for sharing it so others might avoid the bad effects.

Here's a pic for those who may not be familiar with this potentially bad news plant:

Good to know, it's crazy that I've never been affected by one, but it makes me glad that I cover up with pants and a long sleeve shirt when I do trim them.

That's crazy. Get well soon bro

Keeping or removing the plant, Jesse?

Round up then when it dies, let it dry a bit... Wrap a rope around the base. Attach to STURDY bumper, Pull out in one piece... Can be done to a live one too. (if it pisses you off too much) Small runs to break it loose. Don't try to hit it hard and pull your bumper off

Hire someone else to do it!

      OR .... and my favorite!

Craigslist Add:

Free Sentry Plant .... you remove it, you can have it!  Worth thousands but you can have it for FREE! 

By the by... It is a CENTURY plant Sentry might be a better description, but.....

Sentry is from the Matrix

 
  so was it the pulp of the plant that burnt you?  or was the pulp heated by the chain then burned you?
   I though these this were medicinal?

Way to think quick and save your ass..........

Keeping or removing the plant, Jesse?

removing all the suckers and trimming up the original one that is about 20 years old.