Wonderful essay! The prickly pear can, indeed, be a forbidden fruit, at least to the unsuspecting. I recall my first encounter on our drive out west decades ago, and the irritation from the plucked fruit still feels palpable. Thanks also for introducing me to the word "palimpsest." You scraped up a good one!
love this! really puts us in the scene - but am wondering when this was (did I miss something?) The reason I ask is whether any of this has changed over time - rules and regs, changes in the plant life/cacti, etc., populations of the wildlife. would love to know more, even given the importance of brevity for your accounts ----a difficult decision at times!
Thanks, Marylee. The visit took place in 1998. Kruger is still a drive-yourself park. The results of the study in my essay were published in 2020 by Hoffman, Moran, and Zimmerman (https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2664.13737) , the researchers on my trip. The paper reports that the cochineal bugs lead to great reductions of prickly pears in the park. Sadly, Cliff Moran died in 2023.
Thanks for providing the name, glochids, for those pesky thorns I have encountered on various beach paths, trails at St. Marks NWR, and even a rocky trail in Dixon Springs State Park in southern Illinois. The fruits of prickly pear are indeed temptingly lovely, but once prickled, twice shy.
Wonderful essay! The prickly pear can, indeed, be a forbidden fruit, at least to the unsuspecting. I recall my first encounter on our drive out west decades ago, and the irritation from the plucked fruit still feels palpable. Thanks also for introducing me to the word "palimpsest." You scraped up a good one!
Glad you learned a new word. Now you have to figure out how and when to use it.
love this! really puts us in the scene - but am wondering when this was (did I miss something?) The reason I ask is whether any of this has changed over time - rules and regs, changes in the plant life/cacti, etc., populations of the wildlife. would love to know more, even given the importance of brevity for your accounts ----a difficult decision at times!
Thanks, Marylee. The visit took place in 1998. Kruger is still a drive-yourself park. The results of the study in my essay were published in 2020 by Hoffman, Moran, and Zimmerman (https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2664.13737) , the researchers on my trip. The paper reports that the cochineal bugs lead to great reductions of prickly pears in the park. Sadly, Cliff Moran died in 2023.
Thanks for providing the name, glochids, for those pesky thorns I have encountered on various beach paths, trails at St. Marks NWR, and even a rocky trail in Dixon Springs State Park in southern Illinois. The fruits of prickly pear are indeed temptingly lovely, but once prickled, twice shy.
Yeah, you skillfully avoid the big spines and get a skinful of glochids. Gotta admire those baboons!
I fear them but admire them as well!