Hey - Jumping Cactus = Prickly Pear Cactus - who knew?

I was just thinking about where I grew up (Pentiction BC) with all its sage brush and jumping cactus and dust (yes, there were orchards, but there were government-built flumes for irrigation).

Apparently, what I always thought of  as Jumping Cactus (because it had a reputation of leaping up at you when you passed by) turns out to be Prickly Pear Cactus:
http://www.okanaganwildlifephotography.com/floraother/floraother_cactus09.html

What I do know for sure is that they hurt like crazy if you fall into them (they are low growing, often under a sagebrush bush or near a rock, so you don't always know they are there until you really really know).

Very cool PDF of the Grasslands of BC

As described on the label:
http://www.bcgrasslands.org/docs/bcgrasslandsfinal2004ver3.pdf

If you want to see the landscape that I think of as "normal", please check out the photo of the 26th page of the document, the page numbered as 8.

Under those bushes (which are mostly sagebrush, by the way) are rocks, and sneaky jumping cactuseseseseses.