In article , "glenon"
wrote:

In trying to move a cape honeysuckle from my very big pencil cactus, I got
the milky sticky sap from the cactus - THIS IS A WARNING! Always wear
gloves when working with the cactus! The sap caused lots of irritation to
me, stings a lot! especially on mucuous membranes. I had to change my
contact lenses and my eyes were watering and stinging for several hours.
And yes, I had washed my hands thoroughly several times before touching my
eyes! This stuff even got on icecubes that I took with my hands (again
washed) from the bin - as I drank my iced water, my mouth and lips were
stinging and hurting a lot! So, gardeners, beware the pencil cactus - it
seeks revenge!

Long ago after handling roughskin newts which were very tame & friendly, I
completely forgot they are also toxic. When I knuckled my eyes, I had to
run water over my eyes for fifteen minutes of agony, & worried the whole
while I had blinded myself for life.

I probably wash my hands at least hourly on long gardening days. The
garden is full of stuff that is only rarely apt to cause injury to the
skin unless someone is overly sensitive or allergic, but which can make
ANY nose-picker or eye-knuckler VERY sorry. There are also potential
life-risking infections that can be gotten from soil, including tetanus
which makes death-by-gardening sufficiently a realistic threat that some
nurseries & gardening organizations should make tetanus booster shots a
requirement.

Here's my article on pencil cacti:
http://www.paghat.com/firesticks.html

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
Visit the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com