A number of years ago, I asked poisonous plant expert, John Kingsbury, about
pokeweed. He's a retired professor of botany from Cornell and was lecturer in
phytotoxicology at Cornell's Vet. College. And author of "Deadly Harvest," an
excellent book on poisonous plants. He told me that a group of medical
researchers who were studying pokeweed, and handling the plant, all developed
leukemia-like symptoms. (I don't know what happened after that. Did they
recover, once they stopped handling it?) He recommended wearing gloves, if
handling the plant. I think he said that the berries were the least toxic part
of the plant. Just because a plant is toxic to humans, of course, doesn't mean
it should be destroyed, just that people should be cautious in using, handling
or eating it. And many plants that are toxic to humans are fine for birds and
other animals. Pokeweed is a beautiful, interesting plant. Just don't eat it
or handle it without gloves.BetsySent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone
-------- Original message --------From: Maryfaith Miller
<merrymilkm...@gmail.com> Date: 10/26/19 12:08 PM (GMT-05:00) To:
anneb.cl...@gmail.com Cc: Regi Teasley <rltcay...@gmail.com>,
bluewing-gr...@googlegroups.com, CAYUGABIRDS-L <cayugabird...@list.cornell.edu>
Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Angry birds (Am robins!) I have used pokeweed
berries in my forest kindergarten class to dye wool an intensely beautiful
shade of purple. 5-6-7 year olds, harvested, crushed, boiled over a campfire
and stirred the pot full of wool roving and pokeweed berries. My students love
knowing which plants are deadly poisonous. I have taught them a lot about
mushrooms, and all of them can identify a destroying angel, jack o'lanterns,
etc. Knowledge is power, and children love having this knowledge. They know
where all the pokeweed plants are at Lime Hollow and love to inform people
about them. But this is a bird list, and the question is about bird
behavior...I'd love to hear about the OP's question re American Robin
aggression if anyone knows more about that.Maryfaith Decker MillerOn Sat, Oct
26, 2019 at 11:38 AM <anneb.cl...@gmail.com> wrote:And I am living proof that
eating young pokeweed is not deadly. We didn’t use 3 waters either, although
drained it. But I am NOT suggesting everyone try it. Young spinach causes less
panic. Or try lambs quarters. Anne Sent from my iPhoneOn Oct 26, 2019, at 9:56
AM, Regi Teasley <rltcay...@gmail.com> wrote:I understand Pokeweed is poisonous
to humans. Your thoughts on keeping these plants?RegiWhat good is a house if
you don’t have a tolerable planet to put it in? Henry David ThoreauOn Oct 26,
2019, at 9:01 AM, anneb.cl...@gmail.com wrote:This morning I have a large
number of robins all age/sexes foraging on my productive pokeweed berries and
scratching leaves AND chasing each other hard and long. More athletic long
chases than I am used to associating with robins. They are not just chasing
around the berries although I watched some head lowered face offs ( before a
chase) on the fence near pokeweed. Anne Sent from my iPhone--Cayugabirds-L List
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