Between a Sotol and a Cactus

All sorts of scratchy things in the desert

The rattlesnakes are starting to come out.  That's what they keep telling us when we head out to do trail work.  And every time I turn over a big rock, or starting reaching into a giant rock pile, I'm reminded of those words.  So far, however, no rattlesnake encounters. But not to worry, there are lots of other 'desert things' that are out to get us.

Take, for instance the nasty little scorpion that managed, in the second it takes for me to flip over his hidy rock, to sting me in through the one small hole in my glove before scampering back beneath another rock.

There are also lots and lots of biting ants. Rather than scurry away, they attack.  Running up your arms and legs, crawling into gloves and under cloths, and then biting.

Even the rocks here are sharp. Really sharp. We need leather gloves to move them, and we need to replace the gloves every six days.

And then there are the plants, especially the sotol and the cactus.  These are ubiquitous desert plants that aren't terrible bad on a one to one encounter but bad because they are everywhere they are so common that you forget about them, or in come cases so unavoidable...and then they get you.

Sotol

Sotol is described as an "evergreen rosette plant, with long spine-clad leaves that attach in a series of circular tiers around a shortened, central stem." While native Americans found the sotol a useful food source, harvesting and eating the central stem, trail hikers and trail crews are more concerned with those 'long spine-clad leaves.'  The darn things are sharp! And they seem to especially thrive right next to, and occasionally in, the trail. At one spot in there are two growing on exact opposite side of the trail leaving a passage space between them of only one foot. It's impossible to get through without getting scratched or having your cloths snag.

The cactus also like growing in and beside the trail. This being the Chihuahua desert there are lots of cactus. Big barrel cactus and cute little hedgehog cactus are fine. It's the prickly pear and their little unique glochids that cause the real pain. Glochids are "clusters of fine, tiny, barbed spines found just above the cluster of regular spines. glochids are yellow or red in color and detach easily from the pads. Glochids are often difficult to see and more difficult to remove, once lodged in the skin."

They only look soft and fuzzy

To me, it was pretty funny when S.D. lost his balance and reached out to steady himself on a prickly pear. He had his gloves on but spent the  next few days digging almost invisible, painful, little spines out of his glove and hand. A week later, S.D. had the last laugh as I actually laid down on a prickly pear pad. I had to sheepishly ask hm to find and remove what he could find of the two inch long line of glochids on the back of my arm.  The area is still tender and I swear there is still one of them in there.

This week we'll finish 'rocking' the Frejole Trail. The next step is cutting back plants.  Armed with long sleeves, gloves, loppers and a chain saw, I know of few spiny specimens that are going down!