Tried to repot a cactus and got stabbed 14 times

I was in my backyard last Sunday moving a barrel cactus into a bigger pot. The thing was about the size of a volleyball and looked harmless enough. I grabbed it with some thick gardening gloves and tried to lift it out of the old pot. Turns out the gloves were not thick enough because a spine went right through the fabric and into my thumb. I flinched and dropped the cactus, which then rolled onto my foot and got stuck to my shoe. My wife came out and laughed so hard she could barely breathe. I ended up using a pair of tongs and a folded up towel to finally get it into the new pot. I counted the puncture wounds later and had 14 little holes in my hands and arms. Anyone else have a plant fight back harder than expected?

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derek_burns4mo ago

That cactus clearly had a personal vendetta against you, but it's funny how the most stubborn things in life are often the ones that seem harmless at first. Reminds me of trying to fix a leaky faucet that just kept spraying water everywhere no matter what I did. The universe has this weird way of humbling us when we think we've got something figured out, like that cactus was teaching you a lesson about respect. Hope you've got some tweezers and antiseptic handy because those tiny wounds are gonna sting for a few days.

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kevin_roberts414mo ago

Man, that's rough. 14 punctures is a lot for one little plant. Were you using like cheap dollar store gloves or actual gardening ones with some padding? Because I've had cheap gloves fail on me too, and it's amazing how those tiny spines just punch right through.

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