This month, a couple of readers are curious about cactus spines, those tiny devices of torture that seem to cover most desert plant life. Believe it or not, cactus spines do not exist to punish clumsy hikers – their primary purpose is to protect cacti from hungry animals. Over time, animals and humans have even devised ways to use cactus spines to their own advantage. Packrats pile cholla joints, which are loaded with spines, around their dens to discourage predators. And humans have used the spines for sewing needles, fish hooks and toothpicks. But, for most of us, the typical encounter with cactus spines sends us searching for tweezers and a Bandaid.

Our first question is from Bart D. of Lake Okoboji, Iowa:

Are cactus spines poisonous?

Did you know that wild cacti live in all the contiguous states except Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont? Neither did I. But, that being the case, thank goodness the answer to Bart’s question is no, cactus spines are not poisonous. Imagine what would happen if they were – we’d have people keeling over left and right all across the country. That would be very bad. Mother Nature sure gave us a break on that one.

Now, this is not to say that getting stuck by a cactus spine is a walk in the park – it’s not. It hurts. Take it from someone who’s been unlucky enough (read “clumsy enough”) to have gotten stuck several times during desert excursions. To minimize the pain, inflammation and the possibility of infection, try to remove the offending cactus spine right away. Which leads us right into our next question from Darcy M. of Clearwater, Fla.:

What’s the best way to remove cactus spines?

Very carefully. Large spines that are embedded close to the surface of the skin can usually be pulled out with your fingers. If a large spine is deeply embedded in your skin, try using a pair of pliers. Now, the thing to keep in mind is that in addition to large spines, several varieties of cactus, including cholla and prickly pear, have a second layer of pain-inflicting devices – tiny hair-like spines called glochids. Not only are these little devils very sharp and fragile, they sport barbed tips and are usually delivered en masse. This, my friends, calls for a whole new bag of tricks. Because trying to remove them with your fingers may cause them to break off at the surface, muster up your patience and a magnifying glass and start with tweezers. If there are a whole gaggle of glochids attached to you and you don’t want to spend hours tweezing, try coating the affected area with white glue. When the glue is dry, gently peel it off. That should remove most of the spines. If there are some that are embedded too far for either tweezers or glue to remove, take heart – while they may be uncomfortable for a while, they will eventually dissolve or be expelled. Just keep the area clean to prevent infection.

Tags: Cactus, Sonoran Desert, Sonoran Explorin'

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