Do Cacti Have Something In the Spines....

I bet the tiny tip was left imbedded in there.

Edgar may be right. Also, some cacti do have irritants in their spines.

Also, if there were some bacteria on your finger, the spine going into your finger may have taken the germs along with them.

I think most cactus spines are like porcupine quills - not toxic, but barbed. Some of these microscopic barbs will remain in the skin when the spine is removed, resulting in a foreign body reaction. It heals, though.

Most likely to be an infectious agent on the spine. like a bacteria or some such. Not an integral part of the plant just part of the general run of bacteria that are all around us.

Speaking as an old thorn tip imbedded in fingers person, I've had granulomas form over such imbedments, and the granulomas eventually went away. <Stares at hands, trying to remember which fingers...>

It's generally good to keep up on your tetanus shots. I seem to remember the protection lasts longer than they say it does (or it used to be said so), but it's ridiculous to have let getting another tetanus shot go as long as I have. Given that you're pregnant and don't seem to have tetanus impending, I'd ask your physician on your next visit.

I get that even when I've handled cactus without noticeable bars. I will feel barb-like sensations in my fingers that can last for several days. Now I just don't touch the damn things

Never pet a cactus. I did that once, it was a cute little thing, with an apparently furry coat. Sheesh.

nick, that reminded me...

Once I knocked one of thos cacti that have a million tiny spines all over it off a window sill.

As it started to fall, I instinctively put my hand out and caught it.

oh yeah, that felt good.

Ah ha!

You are probably right then (both you and edgar!).

There was probably still a piece in there that finally worked it's way out.

My younger son during the summer he turned two made a habit of stripping off all his clothes--except for socks and double-knotted shoes--and falling into the prickly pear.

He survived. I'm traumatized. Prickly pear fights back.

Good LORD!

How many times did he do THAT?

Chai--

I think it was only three or four times, but extracting prickly pear spines is one of my least favorite activities. Both ends of the spine are sharp--in fact the prickly pear propagates by grabbing a furry passer-by and breaking off a chunk of cactus to be transported to a new place.

We were visiting my parents and my mother was one of the first in Colorado to experiment with landscaping with native plants.

Puncture weed is another plant with great personal defenses.

The 2nd part of the question is, WHY?

Chai--

Why?

Same sex, second sibling syndrome.

Your mother tried to landscape with natives in Colorado?.. Noddy, tell more.







Signed, girl with goatweed thumbs... not that goatweed is native to Colorado, I've no idea.

Osso--

My parents moved to the Pueblo area in the early sixties. My father allowed as how he didn't want to spend more than a half an hour a week cutting grass. Both my parents were appalled by the ecological idiocy of trying to reproduce Eastern Landscaping in an area with Western Rainfall.

My mother's first stop was the public library which had no books on xeriscaping on the shelves, but ordered a batch through Interlibrary Loan. (They also added several recommended books to the permanent collection).

Second stop was the County Agricultural Agent who looked at the Crazy Eastern Woman and admitted his complete ignorance. After a half an hour of rummaging in stacks and files he said brightly, "If you find out anything, let me know. We're supposed to encourage that sort of thing."

At that time local nurseries were not helpful. My parents started cruising the unpaved back roads to locate interesting shapes of cactus and then driving up dusty, unpaved access roads to get permission from local ranchers to help themselves. Local Ranchers were all bemused by why Crazy Eastern Folks would want to plant obnoxious weeds, but westerners are tolerant people, friendly and generous. They even offered barrel cactus which even then was protected by law.

The "grandchild" strip of grass and the strawberry patch were on the other side of the native planting--hence the same sex, second sibling's access to prickly pear.

Sorry, I don't remember details, but by the time my parents moved back east in the mid-Eighties, xeriscaping was becoming generally fashionable.