Cactus Attacks Pug Dog

One day, not too long after we had moved in to the new house, Smokey and Jodi decided we would have a walk-about in the desert.  Now mind you, this is all natural desert, brown and dry.  You know that "dry heat" thing.  It wasn't hot yet, so off we went, Smokey, Jodi, Star, Cinders and me.

There are lots of creepy critters in the desert, but I found it all a big adventure.  At least I knew I would be safe with big Star to protect me, or so I thought.  At least we didn't encounter any slithering snakes!

We were following a natural path, but I decided to venture off a bit and check out something that looked interesting off the trail.  It was big, hairy, had lots of legs, and was moving.  Before I knew it, I was attacked by a big plant with sharp barbs all over it which were now all over my nose and face!  By the way, that hairy crawling thing was a tarantula spider.  Glad I didn't get too close to that thing!

I let out a big yelp and Smokey pulled me back towards him, not coming towards me.  I had been attacked by a Jumping Cholla Cactus!

We left immediately and were off to the vet's in two seconds flat!  Jodi was all upset, and Smokey tried to keep us both calm.  What we learned from our vet is that a jumping cholla cactus has a very shallow root system and it runs along just beneath the ground's surface.  So when I stepped on the root system, the plant threw barbs at me.  Kind of like the Venus Fly Trap idea, only in reverse.

I was in such pain and crying through the entire procedure as the vet gently removed each barb from my nose and face.  Those barbs, incidentally, have a little hook on the end, so it's not an easy thing to pull them out.  What did we know?  We were new to that area, but we learned a good lesson very fast.

Golfers have to beware of the jumping cholla on the golf courses of Arizona.  So, if you're ever out there, golfers - BEWARE!  That's not the only thing to be on the lookout for on Arizona golf courses, but that's another story.

Here are some other types of cactus that grow in the Southwest:

 

This giant is a Saguaro cactus and can grow

very large and tall as you can see.  Birds love to nest in them.

This one is a Prickly Pear Cactus just getting ready to flower. 

People take the meat of this cactus and make jams and jellies out of it.

The Agave Cactus is one that is used to make the ever popular Agave nectar which is a lot like bee honey.