I have a weed in my backyard. Every year, for the past 7 years, it has poked its head from the fertile soil in the border between the yard and the woods, looking oh-so cute and innocuous. Then I blink. Next thing I know, its nearly six feet tall with an equally wide canopy, covered … Continue reading
When I moved to North Carolina 7 years ago I didn’t think much about one of the bedrocks of the North Carolina economy: Tobacco. It’s a business dying a slow death, and one only has to look at the closed-up buildings that once housed powerful tobacco conglomerates, such as Liggett and Myers, in downtown Durham. … Continue reading
Readers of this site, and my Twitter friends, know that I like food and cooking….but don’t call me a Foodie. Much of what I cook tends to be seasonal, and I find myself preparing Southeast Asian dishes in the fall and winter, and Mexican meals in the summer, but I’ll swap over from time to time. In … Continue reading
I love my readers. You’re a smart group of people that likes the same things I do: poisons, toxins, science, chemistry, crime, history, and all of the above mixed into a casserole. But there’s something I don’t quite understand . . . what do you all have against shellfish toxins? There are four syndromes associated … Continue reading
Take a look at this photo. Who couldn’t love this face? Really, who? Such a cute little fella. And I’m talking about the pufferfish, not the dude with the pipe. But I am thinking about taking up pipe smoking, solely because of this photo. Relax, I won’t, that nicotine will kill you. But I’ll definitely pick up one of … Continue reading
Inheritance powder, the poisoner’s poison, these are just a few of the names given to thallium because of its history as a criminal poison. Some have even gone so far as to dub it the “perfect poison,” but more on that later. Thallium was an accidental discovery. In 1861, using flame spectroscopy to investigate the … Continue reading
The platypus, where to start? The Australian mammal (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) has the bill of a duck, a tail of a beaver, the waterproof body of an otter, and flat clawed webbed feet. Did I mention it lays eggs, yet lactates? It’s a freak show. Some say they are the Swiss Army Knife of animals and others will claim they … Continue reading
Since the dawn of time indigenous peoples have eaten what the land, and sea, has afforded them. Humankind has evolved and adapted so wonderfully to the foods around them, from whale blubber of the Siberian Eskimos to nopal cacti of ancient mesoamerican peoples. But what happens when your food wants to poison you? You eat it anyways, … Continue reading
Three feet. Three feet of red sand and clay the hunter-gatherer Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert dig through to find the poison which they use to fall their prey. Do they search for the venom of snakes, spiders, or scorpions? No, they dig for the larvae of a lowly leaf beetle. Beetles of the genus Diamphidia lay … Continue reading
My faithful readers are aware of my desire for things to be named as they are. It avoids confusion, and life is too short to be dazed and confused. So when I read about Cerbera odollam, the “Suicide Tree,” I get a warm, tingly feeling. Not because I’m some sort of sociopath, well, maybe just … Continue reading
Nothing moves a woman’s heart more than chocolate. Well, maybe diamonds. But I can’t afford them, besides, diamonds in your blood stream can’t be good for you. So what is it about chocolate that is so attractive, maybe even addictive, to some women? Well, let’s start at the source. The cacao tree (yes, it is … Continue reading
So with the St. Valentine’s Day drawing near it makes sense to mention aphrodisiacs. In a nutshell an aphrodisiac is anything that increases sexual desire, and draws its name from Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love. I most often read about aphrodisiacs as being used by men on women to increase their libido, or sexual … Continue reading
Ah, Christmas. The season of over-indulgence, crappy eggnog, and shooting your eye out with an official Red Ryder, carbine action, two-hundred shot model air rifle. I shouldn’t be so Grinchy. It’s also the season for giving. Giving a kiss under the mistletoe, that is. We’ve all heard, and perhaps witnessed or experienced, the tradition of snogging … Continue reading
Plant poisonings are a funny thing. Most people aren’t actively seeking out poisonous plants in which to eat, that would be dumb. Rather they mistake them for something else through an honest mistake, willful ignorance, or just plain foraging hubris. I hate foraging hubris. But I digress. Take the “Death Camas.” I’d like to believe … Continue reading
Dolls are creepy. I suspect that the only people that like dolls are the little kids that play with them and adults that might benefit from a psychological evaluation. I jest of course. Not really. It’s those glassy, vacant eyes that creep me out. And I’m sure those horror movies I watched as a kid … Continue reading
I’ve heard of indigenous peoples of the Amazon using plant-based poisons to kill, or catch, fish. But to be honest, I never really gave it much thought until a recent article on National Geographic about incorporating these traditional methods to help with a scientific survey investigating fish diversity on the Manu River. The Machiguenga people use the … Continue reading
A mystery writer friend asked me about oleander, the evergreen shrub that thrives throughout the southern United States, a little while back. Being the smart-ass that I am, I asked her who she was planning to kill and she said a dog. What, what, what? Relax, it’s a dog in the mystery novel she’s writing. … Continue reading
I’m not ashamed to say that I like root beer. There’s something about the herbal and woodsy flavors that I enjoy. It’s refreshing, but also a time machine. A sip of root beer brings me back to my childhood and makes me feel like a little kid again. More so than any other drink, it is classic … Continue reading
A while back I was happy to report that the Death Cap mushroom was aptly named, in contrast to so many things in life. Unfortunately, “wild ginger” is not such a plant. With a name like that you would suspect it to be related to commercialized ginger, but alas it’s not. And while the smell … Continue reading
I love chile peppers and spicy food. I grow up to a dozen varieties of chile peppers each year, and turn the fruits into sauces, spreads, and salsas. For me, nothing tastes better than fresh homemade salsa, a few dashes of my Tabasco-style sauce, or fresh Thai chiles in my Pad Kra Pao. And I’m … Continue reading
Nature's Poisons 