mmmbirds.
Drunk Birds Crash Into Office Building
Feb 11, 2005 8:22 am US/Central
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) Dozens of birds got drunk from eating holly berries, then crashed into the glass of an office building and died.
“It was like an Alfred Hitchcock movie,” worker Denise Wilkinson said. “It was spooky. You could hear them where they flew into the glass.”
Warm weather and an ample supply of berries attracted hundreds of cedar waxwings into the enclosed courtyard of the three-story building Tuesday.
The birds began getting drunk on the fermented berries. They got so loopy that some were falling off branches and others were slamming into the glass walls that enclose the courtyard, said Burgess Mills, the building’s owner.
About half of the 100 birds that slammed into the building died, workers said.
Groundskeepers have tried to help the birds by putting tape on windows or nets over the holly trees to keep them from eating the berries, Mills said.
so, i did some reseach on these holly berries..
holly berries: small, red or sometimes yellow berries native to north america, southern europe, and asia that are potentially dangerous if eaten. both the fruit and leaves contain a mixture of the caffeine-like alkaloid theobromine, caffeine itself, and glycosides. (theobromine is also found in chocolate and cocoa.) in small doses these will stimulate the nervous system but in large doses they act as a depressant. north american native peoples of the southeast used the yaupon tree (ilex vomitoria) to make a hallucinogenic beverage. the species name, "vomitoria", comes from the fact that vomiting was a common side effect of its consumption.
.. . . .
so these birds were either really really fucked up, or suicidal.
well, at least they had fun.
Feb 11, 2005 8:22 am US/Central
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) Dozens of birds got drunk from eating holly berries, then crashed into the glass of an office building and died.
“It was like an Alfred Hitchcock movie,” worker Denise Wilkinson said. “It was spooky. You could hear them where they flew into the glass.”
Warm weather and an ample supply of berries attracted hundreds of cedar waxwings into the enclosed courtyard of the three-story building Tuesday.
The birds began getting drunk on the fermented berries. They got so loopy that some were falling off branches and others were slamming into the glass walls that enclose the courtyard, said Burgess Mills, the building’s owner.
About half of the 100 birds that slammed into the building died, workers said.
Groundskeepers have tried to help the birds by putting tape on windows or nets over the holly trees to keep them from eating the berries, Mills said.
so, i did some reseach on these holly berries..
holly berries: small, red or sometimes yellow berries native to north america, southern europe, and asia that are potentially dangerous if eaten. both the fruit and leaves contain a mixture of the caffeine-like alkaloid theobromine, caffeine itself, and glycosides. (theobromine is also found in chocolate and cocoa.) in small doses these will stimulate the nervous system but in large doses they act as a depressant. north american native peoples of the southeast used the yaupon tree (ilex vomitoria) to make a hallucinogenic beverage. the species name, "vomitoria", comes from the fact that vomiting was a common side effect of its consumption.
.. . . .
so these birds were either really really fucked up, or suicidal.
well, at least they had fun.