The chollas have earned their reputation as the jumping cactus. They never actually jump but at the slightness touch will break away and stick to you in an instant. Pliers should be a mandatory part of every desert lovers med/tool kit. Don't leave your camp without them.
Pliers and a comb, a big one with a handle like an "Afro Pick" is preferable.
They sometimes attach so hard that they roll into further contact with any motion.
They also leave behind the super thin barbed sheath, so it will stay irritated for awhile.
I once had my front tire hit soft sand and torque sideways enough to stop me while crawling through prickly pear, I tried to clear the cactus by stepping over it, but the entire inside of my left calf made hard contact.
It was one that had clusters of needles, so I immediately started ripping out clusters from my leg.
It actually didn't hurt that much, it felt like ripping the hairs off your leg and was sort of sore afterwards.
Irritated for a week and some of the deep ones surfaced later, some were absorbed....
Of course there were many tiny ones that you couldn't pull and a few deep ones in muscles..
I spread white glue over the tiny ones and peeled it off after it dried, that got almost all of them...
