Careful! Arizona’s “Fuzzy Teddy Bear” Will Show No Mercy

Here's How the Arizona Desert Bites

Over the weekend, we took a trip to Northeast Tucson at the base of the Santa Catalina Mountains. While we waited for our friends to finish up some household chores, my husband and I decided to take a short walk around the area, and in doing so, violated every tenet of desert hiking.

We didn't really plan this, but only intended to go a short distance. We didn't take water, didn't wear the right shoes, and we set off at about 1pm, approaching the warmest part of the day. It's November, we reasoned, and we weren't going far, and it wasn't 110 degrees (it was 85 degrees, but who's counting?).

Read more about the plants and animals here in Cochise County: Discover the Amazing Biodiversity of Arizona’s Sky Islands

So I, in my flipflops, and my husband, in his running shoes, took a short walk across an unfamiliar landscape. We passed towering saguaros standing sentry over the desert floor. Crossed a dry, shallow wash. Walked carefully past mesquites, prickly pear cactus, and creosote.

We found a clear wildlife trail with a wide range of animal tracks from quail to javelina to coyotes. The trail wended its way around plants, through the wash, and avoided problem patches in the landscape.

Animals take the path of least resistance. If only we'd been smart enough to follow the wisdom of the fauna, instead of forging our own path when we decided to return.

This Desert Teddy Bear Isn't Fuzzy or Cute

That's when we met a vicious, vile creature. Teddy Bear or Jumping Cholla (Cylindropuntia bigelovii) may sound cute, acrobatic, even, but I assure you, this one plant turned a lovely amble through the desert into a brief nightmare.

Teddy Bear cholla is a nickname for the fuzzy-looking succulent that catches the light in the most beautiful way as the sun sets. It's also called “jumping cholla" as a nod to the plant's notorious habit of easily detaching spiny segments and "jumping" onto whatever is close by, be it animal or human. This spiny beast is no fun.

We not only walked past it, but we also walked through a basin of cast-off stem segments that were lying all over the ground. They looked dead and harmless, but we soon discovered that even as they decay, they have a way of making their mark.

READ: Out of This World Views in Arizona's Chiricahua Mountains

These segments or joints detach from the main part of the plant very easily and are notorious for clinging to anything that brushes against them. Once they get their long, piercing barbs in you, they do not want to let go.

As we walked in, the barbs took hold, and in seconds, the bottoms of our shoes were covered. We found a woody, desicated branch to work some of the worst parts of the cholla from the bottoms of our shoes, then managed to limp-hobble back to the house. Some of the barbs were long enough to pierce the soles and work into our feet. We spent the next hour using a pair of pliers to remove the remaining cholla thorns.

The Moral of the Story in Arizona

The moral of this story? Do not take a spontaneous trek through the desert. Plan your trip carefully by packing water bottles, the right shoes, a first aid kit, and exercising common sense. The desert isn't playing around, and what you don't know won't hesitate to hurt you.