.
When out on the trail and, more to the point, when bushwhacking through the backwoods, caution is still required. The members of the Smilax clan—the bullbriers, catbriers, greenbriers, hogbriers, deer thorns, and prickly ivies, among them—remain armed and dangerous, and if the trekker is not careful, the result, from getting too up close and personal with these prickers, is a suite of skin piercing lacerations and a fair amount of spilled blood. I've been there. I'm slow down and watch. Rushing can wait. I'd rather save my skin.