# The desert is beautiful, but...

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-is-beautiful-but/772484>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [November 19, 2016, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-is-beautiful-but/772484 "2016-11-19T22:39:11Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\
**Post date:** [November 24, 2016, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-is-beautiful-but/772484/21 "2016-11-24T20:40:43Z")

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> [@Lumpy](#):
>
> How the heck did the local native americans cope with these death traps?

If they were surrounded by these things every day of their lives, I think extreme caution (always being aware of where the one closest to you is at the moment) would become second nature very early in life. At the same time, I suppose they might have taken the pain(s) as a fact of life; An accidental multijabbing that would reduce me to a blubbering infant might have been a minor annoyance to a native.

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**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\
**Post date:** [November 24, 2016, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-is-beautiful-but/772484/22 "2016-11-24T22:14:30Z")

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I never traverse desert wilderness without tweezers & backup tweezers. I wonder if early desert dwellers had their own techniques to remove cactus spines, glochids etc.?

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**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\
**Post date:** [November 24, 2016, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-desert-is-beautiful-but/772484/23 "2016-11-24T23:28:03Z")

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Out in the south African veldt, how can you make camp and sleep for the night without fear of being attacked by lions or hyenas? The traditional answer is to build a _boma_, a temporary [fence](http://tse4.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.M71bb28c24de62ce1ec196507d280892bo0&pid=15.1) made of African [thorn](http://tse3.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.M0807b12883f58bd779e6e84ed2af41e5o0&pid=15.1) [bush](http://d1hw6n3yxknhky.cloudfront.net/007687795_prevstill.jpeg)

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