Getting Into a Fight With a Cactus
Nature is amazing and beautiful. Plants and animals have evolved natural means to propagate their species and defend themselves against predators, like cyclists who take a tumble right on top of them. The jumping cholla cactus has long, barbed spines that hitchhike to a new spot to grow by sticking to people, clothes, shoes, and even cows.
Desert dwellers familiar with the plant say these spiky spines are exceptionally painful. The good thing is that they aren’t poisonous, but you still don’t want to crash into one of these cacti or stand too close to them. Pulling hundreds of needles out of their skin probably wasn’t what this cyclist had in mind when they decided to get out of the house and into nature.