I used boots on my shorthairs here in southern NM....in volcanic country...the volcanic rock ginds off their paws...so boots are necessary...the cholla and prickly oear can be problems if j=you jump thorugh the cholla (as I did only once)...but the snakes are an even bigger probelm in the rock if the temps are anywhere above 65...watch the heck out....hunt scaled quai, gambels, and the rare california or means that occasionally show up...been from Deing and eastwasrd in Indaian Basin and down in the bootheel of NW....like the hbightlands the ebest...next to cholla..even sen the birds roosting in the cholla like darn tweeties...been here 36 years and would never go back to N Michigan ,...just tto darn cold and wet...no thanks...and I grew up in that country...Blessings....no birds this year...no rain..
