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| Saguaro towering over a 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) man |
Cactus plugging is the practice of vandalizing or destroying a cactus, usually a saguaro, for fun. Typically the cactus is cut open, drained, then packed with explosives and ignited. In another variation, the vandal simply shoots bullets into the cactus body until portions fall off or the entire cactus falls over.
This is probably the one and only recorded revenge death by a plant in history. In 1982, 27-year-old David Grundman and a roommate decided to do a little “cactus plugging,” by shooting the desert plant with a shotgun.
The first one, a small cactus, went off without a hitch and Grundman was encouraged to try a larger prey: a 26-foot-tall (8m), Saguaro cactus, probably a 100-year-old plant. Unfortunately, before the ringing in his ears had stopped after firing several shots at a very close range, Grundman was killed when a 4 ft limb of the spiny Cactus that was weakened by the gunfire detached and fell directly on him, crushing and killing him. The incident took place near Lake Pleasant in Arizona, USA.
A song by the Austin Lounge Lizards (co-written by Ann Clardy) poked fun at Grundman's stupidity.
The act of cactus plugging, if performed on a saguaro, is illegal. In any case, it is a particularly destructive form of vandalism, as saguaros require over a hundred years to reach a substantial height.
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