permaculture

[Heide Hermary <heidehermary@pacificcoast.net>]

Yes,  not all plants are equally toxic to all animals, including humans. 
Then there is the matter of quantity ingested (something like an oral 
LD50), versus chronic exposure to small amounts.  I haven't come across 
any information that addresses this in a comprehensive way for animals, 
except for that one book on horse nutrition I quoted earlier. It would 
be useful information to have.

Just because deer like something doesn't mean much to me: they 
routinely eat stuff that's highly toxic to them here in the city, where 
they've become a plague because we are not allowed to cull them. We have 
several large wilderness areas where they retreat to and breed, but then 
they make their daily rounds through the ornamental gardens. They are 
even nibbling on my Euphorbias.....

Seems to me that animals, including humans, are quite willing to eat 
toxic food that's presented to them, just because it's there, or because 
they are hungry.  Some animals may have better instincts than others, 
but how do we know? Cows will eat animal matter if it's mixed into their 
fodder. It's really bad for them, so why do they do it? The horses I was 
designing that farm landscape for had previously routinely poisoned 
themselves by browsing on trees surrounding their old pasture.  One 
should have thought that they would have learned eventually, but they 
didn't.

I don't think we can take animal instincts to avoid toxic substances for 
granted, especially  livestock, or animals living under duress.And just 
because there are no obvious signs of poisoning means nothing.  When the 
metabolism is compromised in some way it will affect overall immunity 
and vitality.

As for what makes black locust rot resistant: do you know what it is?

Heide


Rick Valley wrote:

> Horses have a digestive system quite different from that of a ruminant; this
> is maybe a major factor in their ability to poison themselves easily.
> The toxic factor in Locust leaves, seeds, & foliage is not what's
> responsible for the rot resistance of the wood. As I've noted, deer love the
> tree; they're a major problem in establishing a planting.
>
> > The mere fact that is
> > doesn't decay easily (i.e. doesn't get eaten by microbes) should be an
> > indicator of toxic / preservative substances.
>
> And, as Heide indicated, Black Locust coppice regrowth is indeed more toxic.
> And thornier. To minimize these problems, don't feed regrowth to animals.
>
> My question remains: What tree species do people recommend for rot-resistant
> timber in cool temperate zones? I don't want to rely on big companies
> providing me with toxics just to have a fence post that lasts longer than 5
> years.
>
> -Rick
>
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