eating brugs?? i thought they were posion to anything. i gave a rooted cutting to a friend and she brought it back saying a deer ate it. it also ate all her hostas too.
just curious. it does look like somthing tried to eat it but a deer???
anyone know of deer
It is not common at all but some people have had problems with deer munching on young brugs. And they do quite frequently devour hostas for sure lol!
Brugmansia is not normally deadly to animals.
Rabbits have been known to nibble on them.
Squirrels eat new growth and seedpods. My Dad used to have squirrel vs brug seedpod problems. A friend of mine has about 1.5 acres of brugs. For a long time he battled squirrels every morning at sunrise. They would pour in from the nearby forest and devour every seedpod on his plants. Then he got dogs to protect the brugs. :)
Susie's bird Elliot peeled and ate 20 seeds one time and never even got heartburn.
I've heard many cats and dogs stories but none of them died from eating brug leaves. Although a slight few didn't feel too good for a few days.
Another friend of mine is in the animal medical line of work. He raises a certain breed of dogs whose puppies sometimes have underdeveloped throats. He has a special formula that includes brug leaves that he gives these pups. It helps to relax the throat muscles so the pups can get the proper nutrition.
I'm not suggesting that everyone should just turn their backs and not be concerned when animals eat brugs ... especially pets. But history so far shows that we can relax just a little bit cause animals are not dropping like flies like we expected they would at one time.
As far as the deer problem .... hmmmm. Maybe if your friend can get the plants to a more mature stage before she plants them where she has them now they will taste nastier to the deer and he will leave it alone.
Wow, Vee8ch. Very interesting reading. Thank you.
Erick
yes definatly interesting. thanks