Oh Rabbie what a terrible thing, I don't know what to say...you'll just have to clean it up the best you can and play it by ear as you go. What kind of mean spirited person would do such a thing? Maybe you can salvage everything. Do you have another less visible place to keep your collection? Keep us posted on how this turns out OK?

What a rotten thing to do! Worse, even, than stealing a plant, to my mind. If some plant seems hopelessly damaged, you could very likely salvage some part of it to root and get the plant back again, but of course, 10 years of growth can't be recovered in months.
Re the treatment, I have used both old toothbrushes and the tips of pencils to flick gravel and other unwanted things out. In some cases, you may want to use a toothpick to minimize the damage. I'm just guessing at the mess you have to deal with, but when I get soil all over the spines of a cactus, I sometimes simply wash it off either by dunking it in a bowl of water or use a high-pressure stream of water from the hose.
Some people use cinnamon on wounds on cacti, but I'm not sure how bad an effect that would have on their appearance. Maybe better to spray with alcohol to kill any germs and then wash the alcohol off with water, so as not to harm the plant tissues. I would also keep the plants with cuts and chunks out of them indoors until the damages surfaces begin to dry out. I am by no means an expert on cacti, so these are just common-sense things I might try if I were in your position, but I have never had such a huge disaster among my plants. I hope you are able to save most of them.
Too bad one person did this and spoiled the enjoyment that plenty of other people could have in seeing your plants as they pass by.

Hi, just poking my head in -- sorry about your collection; sucks out loud.

Um, looking at your pictures, are you certain it was human? I've seen raccoons and 'possums just *trash* a plant display. It's just that, if it wasn't humans, moving the collection wouldn't necessarily protect it.

Going away now. Good luck.

Korina

Rabbie, keep your old toothbrush for cleaning the dirt out of cactus spines and cleaning the dirt off. That is a terrible thing for someone to do. Good Luck with fixing them.

Well, it's happened again. This time due to blustery climate conditions. I lost a few to rot and damage the first time; looks like a few more are doomed this time. Is this a sign to give up?

{{gwi:680652}}

{{gwi:680656}}

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Is this a sign to give up?

Ouch. I think it's more of a sign to find a way to anchor the shelf into the ground.

Never give up!
Maybe it's a sign to propagate - make more cacti!
GIve them to friends & family - then they're immortal.
Good luck.
jim

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:680650}}

Yikes!

I agree with MrBrownThumb. You have to tie the shelves to something to prevent someone from coming along and tipping it over or winds from pushing it over.

I hope you haven't suffered too much damage this time around.

Don't give up!!! This was (in my opinion) a sign, but not a sign to give up, but a sign to get creative. I'm so jealous of your "before" picture it is clear is involved countelss hours of labor (for you), growth (for the cacti), and money (from you).

Get some wolf, or other predator pee. (I don't know if it's actually pee) Raccoons, opossums (probably spelled incorrectly), and other varmints will steer clear and you won't be able to smell it.

Obviously anchor the shelf down

Set up a cheap webcam, either wired, or, for a little more money, a wireless USB connection to a computer or laptop, and you can watch it whenever you want. You can set it to record to your hard drive at certain times. If you're internet savvy, you can upload the feed to a free website and be able to see your feed from anywhere with internet access.

A roll of barbed wire is a cheap effective way to deter people. A blackberry bramble can produce the same effect naturally, without the risk of tetanus!

There's a whole slew of others that I can't think of, but clearly a power unknown to you has placed a stumbling block in your path. You can either stumble; or jump over that stone, onto the next, turn around, pick up the stumbly stone and throw it at the unknown force, and get the last laugh.