Pigeon Killer

[greenlands]

If you haven't seen one before now's yer chance.

http://195.224.106.202/peregrine/webcam2.htm

[chocolate]

b****rd things

[greenlands]

b****rd things

Got it right first time mate.Lindsay

 

 

[OLDYELLOW]

can always send it some modified food and watch the camera when get home  

[Guest]

Anyone know a good window cleaner with long ladders lololol ;D

[chocolate]

me me me !!!!!

[Guest Owen]

A guy told me the other day, that the peregrines have been blocking the drains on the roof of one of the big churches. It's not just the feathers, it's the half eaten carcases as well. Oh, happy days. Now they have to pay for people to get up there and clean the mess up. They will be telling me next that the immigrnts have been doing it because it is a job that the Brits will not do.

[blaz]

A guy told me the other day, that the peregrines have been blocking the drains on the roof of one of the big churches. It's not just the feathers, it's the half eaten carcases as well. Oh, happy days. Now they have to pay for people to get up there and clean the mess up. They will be telling me next that the immigrnts have been doing it because it is a job that the Brits will not do.

 

if the pair are still their i would do it a then i could feed them an oldyellow hawk mix

[OLDYELLOW]

mine you could let go nearby away from cameras   a little nun or something similar after all it is a cathedral  

[Guest bigda]

If you haven't seen one before now's yer chance.

http://195.224.106.202/peregrine/webcam2.htm

 

dont here much from  the  council there, as  these  birds   are sh**-ing all over the stone work on the building in an unnatural nesting site :-/ :-/ now that you can see the *expletive removed*

you will be able  to see how long it  lives  think if i lived there i would like to see it  with its new coat on, or its jacket ;) :X

[Guest]

Did you notice in the write up, referring to carcasses retrieved NOT ONE MENTION of a racing pigeon!! I wonder how much that was covered up. 46 carcasses retrieved since 2006 from under this nest, that's less than one a fortnight over a 2 year period. Must be some very hungry percy's in Derby that's all I can say.

[Guest]

Sorry I miss read the report, It's 46 species of bird carcasses found in total, but still no mention of a racing pigeon or fancy pigeon, so it is still a cover up I would say.

[just ask me]

only reason they use this excuse to hid the fact they are killing pigeons have seen falcon lovers pick up the leftovers of pigeons to hid the fact that its happening seen them at a cathedral at 5 30 some mornings don't ask what i was doing there but a week after to had 2 big birds to pick up  

 

if i was living around there cameras or no cameras couldn't care less there lots of ways and oldyellow on the right track

[OLDYELLOW]

think its eating now

[just ask me]

and about no pigeon kills being found that a lie as there was a a marker ring in the nest last year  

[Guest bigda]

these plants can kill keep them away from your pigeons ;)   Close  X

 

 

 

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Cute Killers: 16 Unassuming-but-Lethal Poison Plants

Written by Sara on September 16th, 2008 - Topics: Animals and Habitats, Featured Articles, Food and Health, Home and Garden, Nature and Ecosystems

 

If you are new to WebEcoist, click here to sign up for the RSS feed and take a look through our archives and galleries. Also be sure to visit our urban sister site WebUrbanist.

 

 

 

(Part of an Exclusive WebEcoist Series on Amazing Trees, Plants, Forests and Flowers)

Most plants contain some level of toxins (like alkaloids) for defense. After all, they’re plants. They can’t go anywhere. Through millennia of trial and error, both animals and human beings have figured out which plants are safe, which are lethal, and which are somewhere in between. For example, did you know that many grain-bearing plants contain a toxin known as lectins? And that the African staple, cassava, must be thoroughly boiled and soaked to separate it from its poisonous compound, cyanide? Even the humble lima bean has been bred to contain less cyanide. Cherries, potatoes, peaches and apple seeds are all toxic - eat enough of the latter, in fact, and it will prove fatal. Fortunately, artificial selection and cooking methods have all but eliminated the threat of toxins in everyday foods. But you may be surprised to find out the incredibly lethal plants often hanging around the neighborhood park - or gracing your tabletop in the form of a centerpiece.

 

Castor Bean

 

 

 

Images via UCC, My Sunshine Garden and remarc

Castor oil - for anyone unlucky enough to have been force spoon-fed this healthy yet disgusting fluid as a child, you may be surprised to learn that an ingredient in the castor bean just happens to be the deadliest plant poison on earth. Literally. Just one tiny castor bean is enough to kill an adult within a few minutes. Castor oil is made safe (but not palatable) with the removable of the lethal compound known as ricin. Amazingly, castor bean plants are grown for decorative purpose all over the place, particularly in California.

 

Rosary Pea

 

 

 

Image source unknown

As if a deadly legume weren’t bad enough, the pulses aren’t so benign, either. The rosary pea may sound sweet and downright pious, but it’s actually one of the most dangerous plants on earth. Its seeds contain a particular lectin known as abrin; if chewed and swallowed, death will follow shortly. The seeds are easily identified with their distinctive bright red jacket and single black dot (almost like a reverse Black Widow spider). Abrin, which does its damage by inactivating ribosomes, is one of the most fatal toxins on earth. After the  vomiting, fever, nausea, drooling and G.I. dysfunction but before the bizarre hyperexcitability, edema and fatally convulsive seizures, renal tubular degeneration, bladder and retinal hemorrhage and widespread internal lesions typically develop.

 

Monkshood

 

 

 

Image via About.com

Another unassuming plant - until you learn that the nickname for monkshood is actually “wolfsbaneâ€. That’s owing to its once common use by farmers as a very effective wolf extermination tool. (Not to be left out, fowl are also fatally affected by the related hensbane.) The monkshood has the distinction of evidently being the bane of many creatures: its nicknames include womensbane and leopard’s bane, though it is also known as blue rocket and devil’s helmet. It is technically part of the aconitum genus, of which there are more than 250 species. The wolfsbane used to be a popular werewolf detection tool, by the way. (Status was determined by holding the flower near the alleged’s chin; a yellow-tinged shadow on the skin was thought to be confirmation.)

 

Bushman’s poison

 

 

 

Images via plantzafrica

The aptly-named Bushman’s poison has famously been used by the Khoisan of South Africa to poison the tips of their arrows. Though the plant produces pleasantly scented flowers and a tasty plum-like berry, the milky sap can be fatal. The leaves, however, have medicinal properties. Bushman’s poison is also known as the wintersweet.

 

Angel’s trumpet

 

 

 

Images via Direct Gardening and Wikimedia

What could be sweeter than the sound of an angel’s trumpet? Perhaps the moaning agony of a trip that won’t end. Related to petunias, tomatoes and potatoes, the angel’s trumpet (datura stramonium) is a highly effective hallucinogen, but should not be consumed for recreational purposes as it can also be lethal. According to wikipedia: “The active ingredients are atropine, hyoscyamine and scopolamine which are classified as deliriants, or anticholinergics. Due to the elevated risk of overdose in uninformed users, many hospitalizations, and some deaths, are reported from recreational use.†This common plant also goes by many other names, including jimson weed, stink weed, loco weed, and devil’s snare. One 18-year-old who was house-sitting alone for his uncle recounts how he decided to prepare some angel’s trumpet tea in curiosity and almost died (a friend burst in on him convulsing on the bathroom floor and the authorities assumed he was on an acid trip).

 

Water hemlock

 

 

 

Image via Rutgers

The poison hemlock famously drunk by Socrates is deadly, but the water hemlock is just as fatal. According to the USDA, water hemlock or poison parsnip is “the most violently toxic plant in North Americaâ€. The flowers and stems are safe, but the stalky roots contain chambers that are full of a deadly sap containing the convulsant cicutoxin. Grand mal seizures are followed by a quick death if even a tiny amount is consumed.

 

English Yew

 

 

 

Images via greenlover, c-r-alpacas, bomengids, and Britannica

The English Yew, or taxus baccata (â€taxus†meaning toxin), is one of the deadliest trees on the planet. The evergreen has a majestic and lush appearance and is fairly common in forests of Europe. The yew is considered by scientists to be an odd and primitive conifer along with the monkey puzzle tree of Chile and Gingko biloba tree of Asia. The yew has a rather sad history. All parts - save for the flesh of the berries - are extremely poisonous. Because the toxin causes convulsions and paralysis, it was once used as an abortifacient. Apothecaries would dry and powder the leaves and stems and give desperate women minute amounts in the days before birth control was available. Unfortunately, death would often result. The yew has been quite popular throughout history for a number of medicinal purposes at extremely dilute levels, but it is deemed too dangerous in modern medical practice to be of use. The yew’s primary toxin is taxine, a cardiac depressant. The yew acts rapidly and there is no antidote.

 

Snakeroot

 

 

 

Images via Sonja Keohane and canalphotos

Snakeroot is most dangerous for livestock such as cattle and sheep. When cows consume the attractive fluffy white blooms and stems of the snakeroot, their milk and bones become saturated with the toxin tremetol and humans who consume these contaminated animal products will develop milk sickness (tremetol poisoning). In fact, milk sickness is what killed Abraham Lincoln’s mother, Nancy Hanks.

 

Strychnine tree

 

 

 

Images via motherherbs, BRAIN and wikipedia

Queen Cleopatra famously forced servants to commit suicide by means of a strychnine tree’s fruit seeds, which contain lethal levels of strychnine and brucine, in order to determine if it would be the best means for her own suicide. Upon seeing their agony (which included painful vomiting, facial contortions and convulsions) she opted for the apparently less horrific choice of the asp. (The asp was actually an ancient term for any number of poisonous snakes, but experts think it was probably the cobra that Cleopatra chose to end her life.)

 

Moonseed

 

 

 

Images via Missouri plants and paradisegardentx

A otherworldly name and a plant with often fatal effects. The seeds of this Eastern North American drupe (stone fruit) are extremely toxic to humans, although birds can eat them. Moonseeds first cause paralysis but are fatal in larger doses and/or if treatment is not sought immediately.

 

Daphne

 

 

 

Images via Bonnie Day and Island Net

This plant, also called the spurge laurel, is a favorite ornamental shrub in Europe. This drupe-producing evergreen with waxy, attractive foliage and gorgeously fragrant blooms is also highly toxic. Consumption of the leaves or red or yellow fruits will first cause nausea and violent vomiting, followed by internal bleeding, coma and death. The daphne plant is rich in the toxin mezerein.

 

Narcissus

 

 

 

Images via the Guardian and the flower expert

Narcissists are toxic enough when they come in human form, but the plant for which they are named, also called the daffodil, is highly poisonous. Poet’s narcissus is more toxic than daffodil, but in both cases it is the bulbs, not the flower or stems, that cause illness. One famous fatal case in Toulouse in the early 1900s occurred when the bulbs were mistaken for onions and consumed. According to Botanical.com, “Socrates called this plant the ‘Chaplet of the infernal Gods,’ because of its narcotic effects. An extract of the bulbs, when applied to open wounds, has produced staggering, numbness of the whole nervous system and paralysis of the heart.†Yet, there are medicinal properties, and some cultures even believe they can cure baldness and serve as a potent aphrodisiac. (Do not try at home.)

 

Oleander

 

 

 

Image via Bay Area Hiker

The oleander is the most deadly plant in the world. It is also tremendously popular as a decorative shrub. Just one leaf can kill an adult, and fatal poisonings have resulted from minimal exposure to the twigs, blooms and berries. The plant contains numerous toxins, including nerioside, oleandroside, saponins, and cardiac glycosides. Though native to parts of the Mediterranean and Asia, it is now widely cultivated throughout the world. Fatalities among horses and other livestock are common. Once ingested, oleander goes to work simultaneously on the nervous system, the cardiovascular system, and the digestive tract.

 

Rhododendron

 

 

 

Images via SOUL, Netstate and Kew

The toxic rhododendron, a stalky tree-like evergreen shrub with large, brilliant blooms, is famously seen throughout much of the Pacific Northwest and is the state flower of Washington. Its relative, the popular garden shrub azalea, is also poisonous. Both plants contain andromedatoxin, which can cause severe pain, lethargy, depression, vomiting and nausea, progressive paralysis, coma and eventual death. All parts are deadly.

 

Choke cherry

 

 

 

Images via Why Oh Why and BC

Chokecherry, or wild cherry, is a North American plant that is known for its large sprays of tiny white flowers. The cherries are small and not eaten. The plant’s woody stalks and leaves are full of hydrocyanic acid, which is fatal if consumed. The poison affects the respiratory system, and rapid breathing, choking and asphyxiation result.

 

Nightshade

 

 

 

Image via PBase

Also known as the devil’s cherry, black cherry, great morel and belladonna, the nightshade is toxic from tip to top. Containing atropine, a deadly alkaloid, those who ingest even a small amount of the plant will soon notice they have lost their voice. Respiratory trouble and convulsions follow. The plant is problematic because its cherries are so sweet and children are frequently attracted to the wild fruit. Strangely, horses, birds, sheep, goats and pigs seem to be immune to the effects of nightshade. Nightshade poisoning is treatable with an emetic if treatment is sought swiftly. Plutarch spoke of armies being wiped out by nightshade, and legend has it that Macbeth’s soldiers poisoned the invading Danes with wine made from the sweet fruit.

 

There are many, many more toxic plants, but these plants were chosen for inclusion in this post due to their their incredible characteristics.

 

Sources: whmentors.org, Live Science, How Stuff Works, Wikipedia

Click Here for Even More Amazing Plants:

16 of the World’s Weirdest Endangered Trees, Plants and Flowers

18 of the Most Powerful Medicinal Plants on the Planet

20 Beautiful but Endangered Forests from Around the World

Bonus: 10 Deliciously Exotic but Edible Fruits and Vegetables

 

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Interesting how many of those grow in Southern California. I feel like I’ll be raising children in a death trap now…that’s fun.

colleen

September 16th, 2008 at 8:44 pm

wow my backyard is a toxic haven. We have rhodies and a yew tree & daffodils which I knew were toxic. My daughter ate a yew berry when she was 18 mo. the poison center said it would take 10 to kill her and 1 would just make her sleepy. And my mom when she was a child use to make chokecherry jam or at least thats what they called it, but I guess they didn’t use the woody parts. and castor oil, bleah, I took that to try to get my baby to come but all it gave me was cramps and dirahea and baby stayed put for 9 more days.

Jeff Kelly

September 16th, 2008 at 11:12 pm

just a note; i’m quite sure your “Choke Cherry†pic is Nightshade berries…

Red

September 17th, 2008 at 2:03 am

Choke cherries are poisonous? http://www.wildfoods.info/wild.....herry.html

Keith

September 17th, 2008 at 2:48 am

I guess this is very much proven, the prettier they are, the more deadly they are.

internet marketing company

September 17th, 2008 at 3:39 am

I always thought that tree, plants and shrubs were boring harmless stuff..

This was sure an eye opener! wonder how many people died while figuiring out whether this was poisonous or not!

 

Queen Cleopatra famously forced servants to commit suicide.. thats nasty!

Laura Essendine

September 17th, 2008 at 5:11 am

Fascinating post and I really enjoyed reading it. However, I think you ought to look again at the yew tree.

 

Although it is highly toxic, its extract goes to make Tamoxifen, one of the widest used cancer treatment drugs. Here in the UK, yew tree clippings are collected by laboratories for processing.

 

Whilst researching my book on the history of contraception, I discovered that, as well as yew extract, apothecaries used some pretty scary poisons as methods of birth control. Many remedies killed the patients which made them very effective but in the wrong way!

 

Laura Essendine

Author : Casanova’s Condoms

http://www.lulu.com/content/3340705

Homer

September 17th, 2008 at 8:06 am

I am an amateur botanist. Some of the plants that you put on this list are edible. Like choke cherries. Where I am from, we turn them into wine. I would say that half of the plants on your list are edible and non poisonous if you know how to prepare them. A good article but needed a little more research.

Ben D

September 17th, 2008 at 6:18 pm

The picture of the berries under chokecherries are not chokecherries, but appear to be the berries of the nightshade. Chokecherries are edible, but extremely insipid. They make really good jelly or wine with the addition of sugar. I also like chewing cherry twigs, they have a bitter almond taste (from the cyanide) I don’t reccommend eating large quantities of them though.

 

I have seen conflicting reports of the edibility of the nightshade berries. I tried to eat a couple once and they tasted like rotten tomato (they are in the same plant family as tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and the delicious , and I ended up spitting them on the ground. I suffered no ill effects from the experience aside from the foul taste.

 

Also, many of the alternative names listed for the nightshade plant are for a different plant (Atropa belladonna) than the one pictured (Solanum dulcamara). Both plants are in the Solanaceae family and are poisonous. I suspect that Plutarch and MacBeth refer to A. belladonna.

dean

September 19th, 2008 at 5:33 am

i don’t think its the berries that they are talking about its more the leaves and they also mean when you eat them raw not prepared in special way most things prepared in a special why are not poisons.

web design

September 19th, 2008 at 8:06 am

Where are the Killer Tomatoes? They even made a movie about them.

RJ Evans

September 20th, 2008 at 3:34 am

Was this article written by the Grandmother from the Addams family? Surely not? Very interesting work - there were some that I was aware of but for the most part I did not realise that there was such poison lurking around us!

 

Now, to go and root around in the back garden for a while. I never did like those neighbours. I shall probably get away with it too, unless some pesky kids turn up!

svejk

September 20th, 2008 at 9:32 pm

Your pictures are of Brugmansias, not Daturas. Related but not the same plants.

Jim Cowling

September 20th, 2008 at 11:36 pm

Castor beans are not quite as poisonous as you make them out to be; an adult would need to eat a small handful to risk death, and it would take hours or days. Deadly poisonous? Yes. One bean causing death in minutes? No.

zeta

September 21st, 2008 at 9:05 am

Nice article, but I also disagree on the english yew. I simply love them and eat them whenever I see one in the park (if, and only if there are no children around). They are dellicious and make a great jam, that used to be a staple in less safety-obsessed times. As long as you don’t break and eat the nucleus of the berry your are save. If you just swallow it nothing will happen because they have a very hard shell.

Kia

September 21st, 2008 at 2:57 pm

chokecherries are eaten by a lot of Native Americans. my husband grew up eating them, so did my mom.

hafguche

September 22nd, 2008 at 4:09 am

thats for sure, man

design

September 24th, 2008 at 3:20 am

Where are the Killer Tomatoes? They even made a movie about them.

Anne (in Reno)

September 26th, 2008 at 9:05 am

Please correct your Datura picture, both pictures (and the links they come from) are of Brugmansias, which are in the same family, but are a different genus. That is literally like talking about a tomato but putting up a picture of a potato instead. If you want to give people fun and useful information please try not to mislead them. Brugmansia is a tropical shrub or tree commonly used for ornamental gardening and Datura is a low-growing desert perennial. They are both poisonous, but not interchangeable.

Cindy

October 3rd, 2008 at 4:48 pm

When my friend moved to Hawaii, he left a seashell collection with some red and black “beads†mixed in. I held on to them to use for art projects with my Son. Today I came across them and had them out on a table on our porch as decor. When I was stumbling this afternoon, I came across this page and discovered that those red and black ovoids I thought were beads are really the deadly rosary pea! Honestly, all this happened today, to think that these also resemble candy and they were out and available for some child to come along and taste. Thank you for posting these pictures and telling us about these common poison plants.

Chris

October 6th, 2008 at 4:32 pm

Well, I was going to mention the chokecherry goof up, but that has been beaten to death already. However, I think you could possibly get away with doing a second edition including many things that you neglected here, such as Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea).

James

 

October 8th, 2008 at 12:20 am

You err a bit with chokecherries. We eat many of them, as did the Native Americans in these parts. We make and use chokecherry syrup, jam, and juice. The Native Americans use pealed chokecherry stems to judiciously pierce themselves during the SunDance. … perhaps chokecherry toxicity prevents infection!

 

Your picture is not of chokecherries! It looks like Bittersweet, of the Belladonna family.

 

I understand that the leaves and twigs release cyanide when they wilt, and 5 to 10 kg will kill a horse. But I have never heard of a single case.

 

My mother said if you eat chokecherries and drink milk you will choke to death. I tried it and didn’t even cough. Some of the Native American elders say that eating chokecherries with milk or ice cream will make you sick, but I’ve also heard that most Native Americans are lactose intolerant so maybe the elders were enjoying a little joke.

 

The article is very interesting and entertaining, even if a tiny bit extreme.

janet

October 8th, 2008 at 11:14 am

“most fatal killer poisonous�

 

now THAT’S overkill

Steve

October 12th, 2008 at 12:10 am

Although your nigtshade picture is a ‘nightshade’ (not sure which one - Woody or Black Nightshade?), it isn’t the Deadly Nightshade. DN has a very different habit, and is a lot more poisonous.

Laburnum is worth a mention. Apparently, the poison can be absorbed through the skin just by holding the twigs. When I was a child, my grandparents set up a swing in a laburnum tree. Hmm.

Andrew

October 14th, 2008 at 1:23 pm

use botanical names! common names are worthless for many plants.

Laurus Nobilis

October 26th, 2008 at 6:35 am

It is good to know that there is so many poisonous herbs. When you walk through the forest you wouldn’t know where is the danger.

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Melina

November 11th, 2008 at 9:30 pm

wow! I love all the pictures and the description of the plants, and the information on some of the plants is very good, I did not know some were poison.

Willem

November 13th, 2008 at 4:29 pm

I came at your site in surch for poisen plants to comit suicide and think your site is quite dangerous not because people could commit suicide whit the by you mentioned plants, but with failure of suicide and survive with heavy health dammage.

Jhonny

November 13th, 2008 at 4:54 pm

A nice site to find ways to kill yourself

amar

November 13th, 2008 at 9:34 pm

Rhododendron flowers are used by the people living in the Himalayas to make jam and juice. I grew up in these mountains and know that for a fact as I have had both and am very much alive.

Gertie

November 17th, 2008 at 10:33 pm

I ate a lot of chokecherries as kid…but they were nothing like what you picture, they were off some trees and were very small and rather plain. Possible the thing you picture is called chokecherry somewhere the type we have on the ranch doesn’t grow. That’s the trouble with common names, they aren’t as specific. BTW all this is great, but if you want to be safe, don’t go round consuming things unless you know what they are and teach kids not to put things in their mouths and try them.

CocoBean

November 20th, 2008 at 7:17 pm

Chocolate cherries? I like chococherries! OOOOOOOOOOHHHHH! Nevermind.

Poison John

December 11th, 2008 at 2:47 am

As has been mentioned, a number of your illustrations are wrong and so is the information about the plants.

 

But what is most wrong is the title. Plant poisons, when in the form of the plant itself, cause very few deaths. It’s about 5 a year in the USA and in Europe we don’t even keep a tally for accidental plant poisoning itself.

 

It’s when humans start to mess with the plants and make things like tobacco, alcohol and heroin from them that the death toll rises.

 

It’s taste which stops these plants doing harm. The majority are either very bitter or acrid so people don’t want to eat them.

 

And even when the taste is not unpleasant (Atropa belladonna, deadly nightshade, is just insipid and slightly sweet) they are not as bad as many people say. In the 1990s a 9 year old Danish boy ate over 20 belladonna berries and survived.

Flower

December 30th, 2008 at 3:59 am

Most of them look so harmless. Just wonderful.

Money Money Money

December 30th, 2008 at 10:32 pm

The red grapes look tasty, yummy.

Toad

January 1st, 2009 at 5:56 pm

This is a very informative article but should have the botanical names listed, as common names can vary by location. Choke cherry (assuming you mean Prunus virginiana) is a common name for a species of wild cherry with edible fruit. Also, the picture for choke cherry is actually a picture of deadly nightshade(Atropa belladona). Common names can be very confusing.