Ty JonesMar 18
ᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIES

It's not weird for some species to incorporate toxins from their diet as defenses: poison dart frogs, monarch butterflies, sea slugs, etc

But let's get weird and circuitous with it

#Nicotine was developed by plants to kill insects. As a quirk of #neurochemistry, humans use it addictively, so cigarette butts are everywhere

Birds have figured out they can use them in their nests to repel insect parasites

The original intention of nicotine

Weird!

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003347226000011

#Science #Ecology

Mar 18 at 10:06pmWeb
Show threadScary AustinMar 18

@benroyce

Are we sure the birds aren't just crashing out after reading the New York Times?

Show threadᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIESMar 18

@MaryAustinBooks

😂

you know what?

you're right

i removed the nytimes link and replaced it with the linked study from poland

nytimes link pasted here instead in the comments for posterity:

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/18/science/bird-nests-cigarettes.html?unlocked_article_code=1.UFA.F5GS.0LI5710DsNRs

Why Some Birds Seem to Be Developing a Cigarette Habit

Research from Poland adds to evidence from Latin American countries that compounds in used cigarette butts ward off parasites in bird nests.

The New York Times
Show threadWendroid 🇺🇦Mar 18
@benroyce Lookit, we eat absolutely weird stuff, plenty of it extremely unpleasant until several elaborate transformations (looking at you, olives). That birds have figured out how to harness poisons to their advantage isn’t a surprise.
Show threadᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIESMar 18

@wendinoakland

if we anthropomorphized plants they would be flabbergasted by humans

plants developed capsaicin to set the mouths of mammals eating it on fire as punishment

it seems like a foolproof devastating repellant. the plant must be proud

but no

one mammal, humans, *like* the mouth fire

crazier, this was not detrimental to the plant, but rewarding. humans began cultivating it. even *increasing* the burn

you poison us. you cause us pain

we love you for it. and ask for more

Show threadWendroid 🇺🇦Mar 18
@benroyce Mostly. Then there’s cactus. And the plants with urushiol. There are some we can work with, but they’re metal af.
Show threadᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIESMar 18

@wendinoakland

well we looked at cactus with its hardcore intent to cause pain and said

"pretty"

but you're right about poison ivy, fuck that plant 😂

Show threadWendroid 🇺🇦Mar 18
@benroyce Poison oak is the feisty bitch here. Loves to grow right in along with the blackberries.
Show threadBlueDot ❌️👑Mar 18

@wendinoakland @benroyce

Can't live with it. Can't set it on fire.

Show threadᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIESMar 18

@BlueDot @wendinoakland

it hates us. can't blame it for that. but we can hate it back!

Show threadWendroid 🇺🇦Mar 18
@BlueDot @benroyce I’d rather live a shorter, happier life with the things I enjoy, than live forever missing everything.
Show threadWeird SocksMar 19
@wendinoakland @benroyce
Almost no poison oak in the hills and streams is on my top five for moving to western Washington from the Bay Area.
Show threadgluttoMar 18

@benroyce

Alternately, cigarette butts are so disgusting they can actually repel insects.

Show threadᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIESMar 18

@glutto

insects: "you like... poison? *burning* poison?"

Show threadEm & future cats 🇺🇦🐈🏳️‍🌈Mar 18

@benroyce this stuff always has fascinated me! Also extra tidbit… did you know that hedgehogs 🦔 have learned this too!!! They will take cigarettes, chew them up a bit, then spread their nicotine filled saliva over their bodies 😹
(They also do this with creosote) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00zd354

And don’t forget about the crows that bathe in formic acid from spitting ants! 😹

BBC Four - Weird Nature, Peculiar Potions, A liking for licking

In hedgehogs, a taste for noxious substances leads to strange behaviour.

BBC
Show threadKSHernandez ♊(she/her/they)Mar 19
@benroyce Look at nature continuing to teach humans the right way to live.
Show threadDoug 🌈🇨🇦 Mar 19
@benroyce will it work on politicians?
Show threadᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIESMar 19

@Oldfartrant

unfortunately MAGA likes nicotine chews. so you might attract them

Show threadDoug 🌈🇨🇦 Mar 19
@benroyce so you can attract Trump supporters with poison. No wonder the country is fucked.
Show threadermo | Rune MorlingMar 19
@serebit One for you?