Low larkspur (Delphinium bicolor)

Larkspur Strikes Again !!!

Kinda’ puts the whole “Canadian wolves are a threat to our ‘livelihood'” argument into perspective:

30 cows die in S. Idaho after eating larkspur – Idaho Statesman via Associated Press

Perhaps they will spend millions of tax-payer’s dollars to commission a federal agency to crop-dust our public lands with herbicide such that this “threat” to the Livestock custom and culture can be eradicated.

Landscape covered in threatening, monstrous larkspur (of the deep, dark night) Photograph © Katie Fite 2008

'Larkspur Rebellion'

Elk, mule deer, white-tailed deer, pronghorn, upland game birds, small nongame birds, and small mammals all eat Low larkspur. However, for reasons not entirely known, its alkaloid methyllycaconitine can cause motor paralysis in cattle (and humans) – leading to death from asphyxiation. Much effort has been spent trying to breed the vulnerability out of cattle – or at least get them to stop eating it. (Sourced Info via Idaho Native Plant Society)

Visit AGRO’s ‘Cattle Losses’ page to learn the proportion of cattle killed by predators versus the number killed by respiratory, digestive, poison, and other problems.