I am retired, and have all the time in the world. So when I ride the in town bike paths (Lincoln has 125 miles of bike paths) when I see goat head plants, I alway stop and pull them. They are easy to pull, just locate the center and a whole huge plant that may be as big as a bike wheel will come up. I feel that I am protecting myself and of course others from the dastardly thorns. If you have time I encourage everyone to do the same. BTW goathead thorn plants seem to come on late in the summer.