Carnivorous sunflower seeds

[arbilab]

Watch yourself around sunflower seeds.  If there's enough of them, they can kill you.

 

This lady fell in a vat of them and sank to the bottom like they were quicksand. 

By the time she was rescued, she could not be revived.

Woman Dies After Drowning in a Vat of Sunflower Seeds in a North Dakota Farm

A 56-year-old woman dies after falling into a huge vat full of sunflower seeds at her workplace on a farm in North Dakota. Rescuers were able to retrieve her after poking holes into the tank, but unfortunately, she died despite their rescue efforts.

www.sciencetimes.com

 

[gansky1]

It happens, sadly, from time to time. Grain storage bins can be very dangerous. Farming is dangerous work. Nearly every farmer I've known has some permanent physical evidence of their trade.

North Dakota is stunning in summer when the sunflowers are in bloom. As far as you can see, oceans of them.

Storage bins are a very common sight, every farm needs them. Despite the dangers, they are iconic and for some, old bins are sometimes tarted up as homes, picnic shelters, etc. Bit of farmscape nostalgia for your pool house?

The A.O. Smith is one of my favorites, farming takes a lot of hot water.

MN mom pushing for grain bin safety laws, but local farmers don't think they will work

After an 18-year-old Minnesota man died inside a grain bin last month, his mom is pushing for change. Michele Gran says she wants lawmakers to pass a mandatory buddy system for farmers working in grain bins, as well as other safety precautions.

www.valleynewslive.com

 

[tomturbomatic]

I only buy roasted, salted, shelled sunflower seeds, 4 pounds at a time. I love them on just about anything except sweets. I can see how the smooth, unshelled seeds would be very slippery. Wearing a harness not attached to anything? Really? Poor soul.

 

[arbilab]

The seeds have some remarkable nutrients.  The plant itself is kinda prehistoric.  Looks like it could attack you.  Reminiscent of those ones in Star Trek that shot spores and made you a zombie.  

 

Farming is so hard, wonder is anyone does it.  Huge investment in endless gruelling work

and a year's worth can be wiped out at the whim of the weather.

 

[warmsecondrinse]

That poor lady's fate sounds like an opening scene from 6 Feet Under.

 

[sudsmaster]

Would a simple rope harness system, fastened to a sturdy beam across the top of the bin, and connected to a harness around the worker's torso, help save some lives? Worst case someone could use the rope connected to the beam to haul one's self up out of the grain/seeds/whatever.

I've heard of grain elevators being dangerous, but not of these smaller bins. The closest thing I have are compost bins, but since they are only about a cubic yard in size, not something that could swallow an adult person. And the compost is usually too fibrous to act like quicksand, if a kid somehow got into a bin.

 

[tolivac]

The farm safety rules I have seen is NOT to enter full crop bins of any sort-no matter what is in them.Crop bins are the hazard most farmers fear most.

 

[tomturbomatic]

RE: reply #3, like in The Day of the Treffids from 1962?

 

[arbilab]

like in The Day of the Treffids

Yep.  And those ones in Star Trek were also guest stars in another show.  I want to say Lost in Space but I get a sinking feeling that's wrong.  Very long time since I saw their other appearance.  Could have been a feature rather than TV.

 

[Ultramatic]

 

 

Sure.

Pandemic

Lockdown

UFO

Mass unemployment

Murder Hornets

Protests

Asteroid

Looting

Killer Sunflower seeds

 

Next...

Zombies

The Singularity

Yellowstone Caldera explosion...

 

 

 

[sudsmaster]

I planted sun flowers along one mid-property fence about 20 years ago. They were very cool. Since then the orange and fig trees have shaded that area, and the other side of the fence is a grape arbor. However maybe I'll plant some more sunflowers this year. There's another area of the property, a six foot wide alley, between the 60 foot long workshop building and the property line. It has some shade trees but I think tall sunflowers would look cool there.