Hi Bob, I have lived with Mulberries (both red and white varieties) in my yard at several points in my life and never seen anything like this. I have often eaten them myself. I have seen birds eating Mulberries to no ill effect, and I have seen birds intoxicated from Mulberries, as well as Cherries that have fallen and fermented.
I do wonder whether the roots of this tree have tapped into something toxic/lethal to birds, but not toxic to plants, and that it has been passed to the fruit. Is it possible that there was any kind of dumping in the area before your friend lived there? While I know this statement will seem obvious, I'm going to say it anyway, no one should be eating berries from those particular trees unless the fruit has been tested for toxic chemicals etc... Bill Baker --------------------------------------------- This message was sent using Endymion MailMan. http://www.endymion.com/products/mailman/ -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
