They are on hiking trails, golf courses and even in some of your front yards, but is the cholla "jumping" cactus a threat to your life? Former NHL star Lyle Odelein says he nearly died and needed multiple organ transplants after he was pricked by a cactus.
Odedlein tells the Daily Mail how he and his friends were able to pull the barb out, but he ended up in a hospital a week later after complaining of leg pain and experiencing flu-like symptoms.
Odelein is recovering in Pennsylvania, where he now lives, but his illness raises some serious concerns about the cacti many of us walk near on a daily basis.
"Infections can always become more serious, but I don't think the fact it was a jumping cholla made it any worse than any other type of injury," said Stephen Traub, the chairman of the Department of Medicine at Scottsdale's Mayo Clinic.
"Cacti generally aren't venomous plants, so I think the most important thing to remember is if you have a puncture in your skin, whether it's from a cactus or whatever, make sure you're tetanus is updated," Traub said.
Traub told 12 News that any puncture of the skin can be susceptible to infection, but there is nothing in a cholla cactus that causes illness.
Most likely, the cactus itself did not cause Odelein's blood infection, but it's entirely possible a bacteria on the barb or bacteria entering his wound is to blame.
This story should not make you any more worried about a cholla cactus than you are worried about a paper cut but does highlight the need to treat each injury properly.