I was thinking about that after I posted and I thought that somehow it would belong to Bucky. It’s all context. I never went fishing but I had a collie as a kid so I see an object like that and immediately default to dog grooming!Not to give unsolicited advice to a syndicated cartoonist, however, if readers are paying more attention to what a character is holding than the jokes that’s probably a warning sign.
It’s actually a shorter version of an older American idiom of I’m angry enough to spit nails/tacks. There’s an earlier version that goes Mad enough to chew nails and spit rivets.
More likely the cartoonist didn’t feel like drawing the nested rings. But yeah, there’s a few manufacturers offering a fish scaler that’s identical to a curry comb. I can see the commercial now, “It’s a curry comb!” “No, it’s a fish scaler!” “Kids, don’t fight! It’s a curry comb AND a fish scaler!”
Yes, many parts of a pine tree are edible.