Mother nature has many nasty things up her sleeves to deter even the most hardiest of pole pickers. This ball of joy is one of them. I frequently find these spike balls growing in masses when I am hunting the poles. They are about 1" in diameter, just the ball itself and the spikes add an extra inch dia to the thing. I found this one growing at the base of one of the poles I photographed tonight. This is the seedpod of some type of giant thistle. This plant itself was about 6 feet tall and prefers wet soils and ditches.