Okay...I have a fear of cacti,not a phobia tho,it isn't that bad.I cannot stand to be in the plant department of most stores if they have cacti tho...Is this silly or normal?It would probably sound silly to all of you,but I hate it...

When I was a kid,mom used to keep cactuses and I remember once one of them fell on me and needles got stuck in my skin...I still remember mom picking/pulling the needles out... <img src="/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

That is obviously why I don't like being near these plant things...

The only one I don't mind is Aloe vera...the ones I am afraid of are the spiky ones or the ones that look fuzzy,but you know they are not...

My cousin fell out of the back of the pickup in a pasture when she was a little kid and right into a huge cactus. Poor thing, they picked cactus needles out of her for days. I would say that she probably has a healthy fear of thenm as well.

I'm sure we can fill up pafes & pages on this site of what were afraid of. When I was 5yrs. old I was bitten by a 'Dalmation' dog, had to have the shots in my stonach, funny thing i don't remember anything about it. I even had a 'Dalmation' & I have a 'Animal rescue' in my town, so i have rescued many Dalmations.
But Cacti I just love them, besides I live in an area that was once a river bottom, so the soil is TERRIBLE, or if you get the rock out, you have a nice hole, the rocks seem to 'breed' on my property. Well I have 5 Dessert Tortoises, so a friend gave me some cati called, 'Prickley pear' which my tortises loved, it was getting big & I was told that many Tortises have had their eyes pooked out by that plant. What fun it was to tear it out...stickers...stickers every where, of course I didn't get it all, so I'm still 'pulling' out shotts & 'stickers' from my arms, legs every where.
I have heard of a 'spinless one' it must be new, still I'll check it out. See we all have our 'Fears' something we have to live with. Hugs, Pegi

I heard a story years ago that a woman had bought one of those big round-barreled cactus to put in her living room. One day it started vibrating and she called the fire department (why the fire department, I don't know). Anyway, the man she spoke with calmly told her to get her children and any pets out of the house as quickly as possible and wait out front for the firemen to arrive. She did as she was told. When the firemen got there they heard a muffled explosion. The cactus had exploded due to thousands of black widow baby spiders trying to get out. The entire house had to be fumigated. This is really a true story. I love cacti and succulents, but, I will never have a cactus in my house, not one of those kind anyway.

Phyliss that story about the cactus and spiders is bogus. Check it out at Snopes. It is a variation of a myth that has been floating around the internet for years.

Here is the link

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Yes when I was a teenager the horror story was about a girl who had a pimple and it ended up being a spider egg that hatched. I think people love scary stories about spiders.

On the cactus front, I am sure we all have fears about things which seem to be a bit off kilter from the actual danger involved. I think it's natural - but I also think it is a healthy thing to slowly work through the fear, so it at least becomes a neutral feeling. The more fears you conquer in life, the more peaceful life becomes.

I recognize that scene from I movie I saw once called "The Believers" starring Martin Sheen. My mother had nightmares about that scene for forever - and still talks about it!

Hello, You are not alone in your dislike of cacti. But if could only look at them as natures truly tough survivor and understand that those needles are meant for protection from heat and wind and being eaten, they would not be so scary. Their flowers rival any rose or orchid in the plant world. They stand silent and endure the most extreme conditions on earth and in my eyes are to be admired.