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what are the small black sticky balls my cat gets attached to his fur2007-11-25 12:26:32Answers:

Hi,

These are most likely to be Burdock seedheads. actually evolved to do just that. ;-)

See; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/burdock.

/quote

"The prickly heads of these Old World plants are noted for easily catching on to fur and clothing, thus providing an excellent mechanism for seed dispersal. Burrs cause local irritation and can possibly cause intestinal hairballs in pets. However, most animals avoid ingesting these plants."

/endquote

There's also a good reference to George de Mestral on the page, the guy who came up with Velcro, after noticing the seeds sticking to his dog's fur.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/george_de_m.

/quote (still from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/burdock).

"After taking his dog for a walk one day in the early 1940s, George de Mestral, a Swiss inventor, became curious about the seeds of the burdock plant that had attached themselves to his clothes and to the dog's fur. Under a microscope, he looked closely at the hook-and-loop system that the seeds use to hitchhike on passing animals aiding seed dispersal, and he realised that the same approach could be used to join other things together. The result was Velcro."

/endquote

If it's not that exact seed, then have a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/seed_disper. which shows some more examples of plants that use this same "stick to animal's fur" method for distributing their seeds.

Hope that helps!

Regards

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I agree with James, its burdock.