Marty’s photo of the day #4824: The prickly pear cactuses were in bloom at the American Prairie earlier this month. Our dog, Nellie, has accompanied my wife and me on all three of our American Prairie visits. The first visit was nerve-racking for me, because I was constantly worried that Nellie would step on a cactus. I kept her on a leash for much of that visit, but eventually grew more confident in Nellie’s natural cactus-avoiding ability.

Montana’s American Prairie is huge (currently 475,337 acres and growing), and some areas support more cactus than others. For instance, the land near Buffalo Camp in the east is filled with cactuses and the land near the yurt we rent in the west supports only occasional clusters of cactuses. Knowing that, we plan our visits accordingly. So if you visit the American Prairie and bring a dog, I highly recommend that you keep your dog leashed—at least at first. Not every dog will avoid cactuses like Nellie does. And even with Nellie, we still leash her if we find ourselves hiking through anyplace where the cactuses are plentiful. That in three separate visits she hasn’t stepped on a single cactus is simply amazing.