Cholla Highlights
by Paul Breitkreuz
Many of the chollas in the area where I photograph can look a bit straggly. To the contrary this one is very healthy once again do to some strong seasonal rainfalls. Not too much to add beyond there are a variety of chollas including the Teddy Bear, Jumping, Pencil, Silver, etc. The ones that are tough to deal with or navigate through are the Jumping variety. Once their needles have pierced the skin they have small barbs on the end that are nasty.
Thank you in advance for your C&C's and please review the LARGER version too.
Mamiya RB67 ProSD - Mamiya "C" 140mm Macro lens - Velvia 50
Comments
4 commentsI backed up into one a few years ago, then tripped and fell into it.
Needless to say, I spent a few hours in an ER with nurses picking spines out of my backside and legs. Wow, was it fun to sit on the car seat to drive to the ER.
While they don't really jump, I SWEAR they get me any time I'm within 3 feet.
Sandy
Yes these guys are nasty. This is not a Jumping variety. Not sure if it is a Silver or Tree type as they're called. The Jumping are also called Teddy Bear which actually have small balls that detach, hence the term jumping, from the cacti and are hard to see scattered on the ground then........
Sandy, very sorry to hear about your encounter. I can truly relate. I always wear snake guards these days to minimize my encounters with the cholla.
I was in the Cholla Cactus Garden in JTNP years ago for sunrise photos and got one of the jumping balls stuck to my hand. I was on blood thinners at that time and thought I'd bleed out before getting the darn thing removed by wedging it between my truck tire and the ground and yanking it out.......OUCH !..... those barbs are flat nasty.......