Important caveat to the "is it safe to drink venom" section. Even if a venom is safe-ish to drink, if you happen to have any sort of cut or sore in your mouth or gut you can wind up having a very bad time.
I've dealt with giant hog weed, also known as bears claw here, on a regular basis as a landscape gardener. These things are best dealt with at a distance, any motorised tools is a no-go because the juices just splash everywhere.
Me too. I find that chopping them at their base with a pair of extendable garden shears before they blossom is the best way to remove the bulk of them. Then removing the roots with a pair of thick leather/waterproof gloves and a shovel. Burn all the bits of plant matter after allowing it to dry out for a few days
here in the Netherlands they are now experimenting with the use of liquid nitrogen to freeze kill the plant. (with out killing the native plans around it). And it seems to work well. with the added bonus that when frozen solid the removal of the now dead plant is a tiny bit less hard.
@@chrisoneill325 not directly as you might have the nasty problem that the sap will boil and still splash everywhere. Also that would also harm the native plants that you would want to promote so they can help with dealing with the Hogweed.
That Giant Hogweed is called "Herkulesstaude" or "Riesenbärenklau" here in Germany and it's a ***ing nuisance. Beats me, why anyone would want to plant that in their backyards and gardens, when their much tamer cousins "Wilde Möhre" (wild carrot) looks almost the same. And isn't as dangerous to have around ^^'
same here in the Netherlands. however people do try to avoid them now. but indeed they are hard to deal with. professionals are now trying to beat them with liquid nitrogen (only killing the hogweed. not the native plants) we also call them ''reuzenberenklauw'' (Giant bear claw)
there's one in my neighbourhood in a community garden (also in Germany). They built a fence around it and put up a sign with a warning not to touch it. But I don't know why they wouldn't just eliminate it, especially since they made an effort to fence it in...
The hogweed seen in the wild is a hybrid between native hogweed and that huge species called giant hogweed. In the 70ties the non hybrid giant hogweed was often used in huge gardens as an ornamental plant because of it giant leafs and flowers. The size of that plant cannot be compared to wild or hybrid hogweed, though it is not really a beauty, it is an eyecatcher for sure. But today you almost never see these giants.
Yeah, i still got scars from playing with a Herkulesstaude as a kid... it was growing in the neighbourhood and was so pretty. never imagined such a dangerous flower to grow in germany
"They are not only toxic to us and our pets, but to plants" - My friend Kevin, describing my ex after knowing they killed their 3rd succulent this month
A note on the blue-ringed octopus statement: though it's technically true that nobody's tested oral consumption of blue-ringed octopus venom specifically, the active ingredient - tetrodotoxin - *has* been, and is conclusively able to kill human beings if taken orally. The same toxin is present in the famed Japanese fugu, a type of pufferfish considered a delicacy but also well-known for being potentially fatal if improperly prepared. Fugu poisoning has been responsible for dozens of deaths in Japan over the last few hundred years, though strict regulations have helped to reduce this in recent years and most deaths now are the result of preparation by amateurs.
Even PROPERLY-prepared fugu has enough tetrodotoxin in it to affect the nerves in your mouth and throat and cause numbness and tingling. And can poison you if you eat several servings of it at once.
Some people in my family went camping one time. They found so great dead sticks that were perfect for roasting marshmallows on. Turns out it was dead poison ivy. They had to go to the hospital the next day because their insides were on fire.
Libraries usually carry pamphlets about these plants and such during the summer. Antrim NH's library carried pamphlets like those when I lived there. A great library with great people by the way. Thank you and stay safe!
When I was in high school, I had wild parsnip, one of the "less" potent relatives of Hogweed, sprayed all over my lower legs by a lawnmower that had the grass guard missing. I mean totally coated. Nothing was done about this because no one knew there was anything dangerous along with the grass. Actually, it felt nice and cooling in the summer heat. Anyway, I developed a rash, and then it got worse. Picture those yellow bubbles completely covering someone's knees, calves, and ankles. I was in the hospital for 4 days. The PA who treated me had been a medic in Vietnam. He said he'd never seen a plant rash that bad. No one knew what the culprit was at the time, I figured it out myself years later.
It’s amazing how our bodies can instinctively know something. That hogweed grew all over my dads property in Canada. I just always had an aversion to it, even as a child it confused me staring at them but I just left them alone. Which they are all around his house, it’s impossible to walk around them. I used to eat wild plants, which is dangerous as a child but this is one plant I stayed far away from. Thank you instincts and evolution.
Ooooh didn't know mangoes are related to poison ivy. But yeah, the sap from mangoes (especially unripe mangoes) and mango trees can cause mild irritation
I was told about daffodils being poisonous when i was an early teen. I decided to be nice and cook for my papa. Had all the ingredients except onions....found them in the utility room. So lucky that my dad remembered we actually didn't have onions in the house before he ate the meal and figured out what I'd done. In my defence....onions and daf bulbs look similar to a 14 yr old 😂😂
Fun fact, an entire family died from this mistake one time, pretty sad ngl. Surprised you didn't notice it didn't smell like an onion when you were chopping it up, cooking it, or handling it.
I spent time as a wild land fire fighter. I have had ivy from Mississippi, and oak from Oregon and California. I have seen people exposed to sumac in Idaho, and Florida poison wood. Poison wood gave people huge blisters, but went away pretty quickly, didn't spread. Sumac made patches of blisters so close together that it just looked like the skin was oozing off, it seemed to persist the longest, pretty close between it and oak from California. Sumac didn't seem to spread either. Ivy makes less densely packed little blisters, but they all itch individually, so the sensation can be mentally draining. The ivy did spread, but it didn't have a lasting effect, it thinned out as it went. The worst exposure I have ever had came from oak in California. The initial rash seeps, and that ooze spreads the oil pretty quickly. This stuff in California grows like old growth rhododendron, so does not resemble other normally identifiable plants. We were cutting forests of the stuff with chainsaws before a local informed us what it was... It burns, it itches, the histamine reaction makes you bloat and retain water. Your skin gets saturated and damages easily, so any scratching causes easy marks that also itch... It takes forever to dry out and get rid of, if not dealt with immediately. Your body may eventually metabolize the irritants away, but the environment does not. Once you have had a sufficiently large exposure to the oils, and if you are prone to histamine responses, you get what I called sympathetic reactions. Where the worst affected places _remember_ the reaction, and responds as if the oil is already there. So, weeks after your exposure you inadvertantly get some on the cuff of your wrist... Bam! The whole darn resection can flare back up. I never experienced this with ivy. Once I was exposed to west coast oak, ivy never affected me again. Sumac never caused me to react, thankfully, it seemed the most miserable. Poison wood seemed crazy, only saw one exposure. The instantly oxidizing, black as tar, sap was usually a dead give away. Ivy had this response as well. Oak does oxidize black, but it takes much longer. I cannot remember if sumac had this response, but I assume it did.
Sumac is intense. I also had caught all 3 at once. It was the sumac that put me in the hospital. Feels like a 1000 needles running accross your body. The other two heal quickly. Two days max. I had sumac for 2 long weeks.
My friend's older sister wound up in hospital thanks to being down wind of some guy clearing scrub and brush in a lot by burning it. The vines were thick as rope, the smoke was toxic and she breathed it.
You don't have to break or crush poison oak leaves to get the itchy rash; in certain circumstances (like if you're super allergic to it) just touching the leafless sticks of it can curse you with its nasty itchy rash. Also, never ever breathe in the smoke from burning poison oak....you'll end up in the hospital.
Unrelated, but: I love how you guys manage to stay objective, correct yourself if you make an error, avoid anything political, and even manage to include multiple competing theories when there's disagreement among scientists about something!
19:40 rattlesnake is perfectly safe to eat, provided you cut off the head far enough back to have the venom glands stay with the head section. The meat is similar to fish. Source: every year, the Nature Lodge staff at the Boy Scout camp I used to work for would "accidentally" kill one while relocating it outside of camp, and then "accidentally" cook it, and "accidentally" serve it to any staffers who wanted to try it. Usually it was gutted, then the cavity stuffed with lemon and herbs, then the whole lot wrapped in foil and thrown on the grill. Accidentally. Edit for spelling
It seems to run in my family, after a fashion. My Grandfather, nephew, and myself can rip it out of the ground barehanded. Pretty much everyone else in the family reacts badly though. Maybe it's a recessive thing?
I haven’t tested it recently, but when I was a kid I was immune to poison ivy/oak/sumac. To avoid being picked on, I’d roll in it so if anyone touched me they’d have a reaction.
😎 Way back in the middle of the last century (when I was young) there was a saying among druggies; Anything that will kill you will get you high first. Not tempted to test the theory.
What I find kind of hilarious is the fact that I have an autoimmune disease, but I'm immune to urushiol. I have touched many broken poison ivy plants with absolutely no effect, when you would think my overactive immune system would attack it immediately. Although I still avoid it because I've heard of people having no reaction, but after years of prolonged exposure they can develop a severe reaction (I once read this story about a man who was immune and a landscaper. He frequently pulled poison oak/ivy/sumac with his bare hands because he hated gloves. After about 12 years of repeated exposure he weeded his neighbor's property, and a few hours later developed such an intense reaction that he ended up hospitalized, and could never touch the plants again without a similar reaction happening.)
I’m also immune to poison ivy! I found that out when I took a face-first tumble into a huge patch of it as a kid and was perfectly fine, but my mom who came and helped me up was absolutely miserable with itchy rashes for weeks
Same here! I also know that meds that target IL-17 work well on me, and IL-17 is one of the proteins in poison ivy. I'm wondering if there is a connection, and have made myself a note to talk to my doctor about this the next time I see her.
The last one about drinking venom... I believe the most correct answer is "don't do it." Even if stomach acid would break it down to become relatively harmless, it could still get into your blood stream by slipping under your tongue where it might slip through the relatively thin barrier or into any minor cut you're not aware of... and if it survives the stomach acid well enough, it could be absorbed through your intestines. Just seems like a needless risk given that if you're wrong about it being safe it'll be a really, really bad time for you. And while venoms are _meant_ to be injected for their harmful effects, I believe there are some that are still hazardous to soft tissues... they're just way, way worse when injected. So... yeah, don't get cocky by trying to create venom-infused alcohol or whatever.
Also, some highly potent venoms, (eg. Black Mamba) have been known to be absorbed into the bloodstream through the skin (arms and legs). This may be due to micro-abrasions or scabs but that is difficult to confirm. Also, consider spitting cobras.
Of course you can drink snake venom. You can drink any and all venoms, poisons and liquid toxins. Once. If you'll survive the experience ... well ... that's a different matter. Best not to test it.
I used to be a landscaper. I was the one who was called to remove poison ivy. Never had it. I was also a late 70’s, early 80’s allergy shot experiment. I am not allergic to anything as an adult!
How about a follow on episode about poison hemlock and wild parsnip. The poison hemlock packs a punch - no giant hogweed put quite a painful burn. Both plants are running wild in my town.
I used to have minor reactions to poison ivy when I was younger but after my teens I noticed I was able to handle it without ill effect. My dad on the other hand almost died once when he cut the grass and went over some that sprayed back on his legs. Genetics and allergies are weird like that
On that last one about drinking snake venom, you could always end up with some minor internal bleeding that the venom could enter your bloodstream throguh
Of course you can drink snake venom. You can drink any and all venoms, poisons and liquid toxins. Once. If you'll survive the experience ... well ... that's a different matter. Best not to test it.
I had a friend who lived further out in the country in Australia and relied on tank water for everything. Unfortunately, a large brown snake had made it's way into the tank and died inside. My friend became seriously ill from drinking this water and the ambos immediately assumed snake venom. He was administered the anti venom. He survived this ordeal at the age of 75 but it took weeks for him to recover.
Something that is not mentioned here is that you can actually build tolerance to poison oak. I have seen this first hand. I have always been very sensitive to it. That was untill I went through a winter where I had permanent moderate to serious infection for an entire winter because I could not stay away from it at my work. And after that winter I have to fear it less because now I go through it and maybe get a some small rashes that go away in a week instead of multiple. Or have nothing happen at all. I don't think it's been studied but it's common knowledge up here in Norcal.
Thanks for the bit on giant hogweed! I think I might have some growing on my property, so it looks like I'm going to have to do some plant identification...
So, one of my mom's grandfathers got so sick of poison ivy rashes that he got buck naked and rolled around in a bush of it. Apparently he didn't go into anaphylaxis but pretty much couldn't move for a few weeks. From what she recounted, it actually worked though, his body no longer reacted to it. This same great grandfather was one of two of mine that lost a foot in the Civil War... both great grandfathers on my mom's side loved the fact that they both were missing opposite feet because that meant they could buy one pair of shoes and each wear one which saved them a lot on footwear lol. For reference, my parents had me later on, both my grand mothers were alive when the titanic was still floating, one of my grandfathers was born in 1905, the other one was alive in the late 1800's and I feel old AF just typing that.
A town here in Canada just put up signs warning people to stay away from the Giant Hogweed. The right side of the sign, which shows you what it looks like is covered by...you guessed it, an actual giant hogweed...
A British couple came to Tobago on vacation and saw the manchineel tree near the beach and decided to try out the fruit. They survived after getting medical treatment. Don't shelter under the tree or burn it either. The tree is just plain evil
Sadly no, this is a compilation of previous episodes. You can tell because Michael Aranda has short hair and less body fat than today. (...is he doing ok?)
When talking about drinking venom and the blue ring, octopus came up. Talked about how deadly it is. Probably best not to eat, but we don't know the effects of eating tetrodotoxin. 22:10 Yes, we do from pufferfish fugu tetrodotoxin. Pufferfish are poisonous blue-ringed octopus that is venomous and poisonous when you bite or swallow the venom gland.
Urishol is also in mango skin, I only know because I got worried after I ate the whole skin when I was 10. I was fine and it is actually okay to eat the skin (as long as you’re not allergic) and I still eat most of the skin today, they taste quite bitter, like a savoury version of the mango flesh. I quite like it.
I have a weird reaction to Mango skin - touching not eating - in that my skin goes waxy after touching it. Not painful or sore, just waxy feeling. Lasts about a day.
In Alaska we call hogs tail cows tail but I've never notice the chemical burns. Growing up as a kid me and by brothers would sword fight with sticks and also though it was fun to walk around and "cut" down huge fields of those things, green or dried, never got any burns. Kinda scary I did that for years with no incidents
Poison Ivy: BEST advice I ever saw regarding urushiol was to think about it being on you like clear axle grease. You can't see it, but it's thick like that. So if you were exposed, you need to scrub it off you like you were scrubbing off thick axle grease. Since I have been doing that, I rarely get more than an annoying level of reaction; couple little blisters that heal up in a couple days. If you've never gotten rotten, stinking, jet-black axle grease on you so you can understand...well, lucky you. But I can set you up with some if you want!
I was told calamine lotion was used to dry poison ivy out. So whenever my poison ivy would itch I used a hair blow dryer and get it as hot as I could. It would stop the itching & dried it out quicker.
"like plants are pretty chill, but there are some that wake up everyday and choose violence" * looks over at my venus flytrap that I may or may not call Audrey III (Trey) * 👀
I dont think neil is dogmatic and neither is science dogma. He openly criticises academic institutions and their teaching methods. Dogma is something that is laid down by an authority and is indisputably true while you could get two scientists arguing over the date of any biological or geological event.
@@anuragmukherjee6694 I didn't say that he's dogmatic, I said that he was a pedant. This is because he's memetically famous for doing stuff like saying something along the lines of "there's no such things as leap years because nothing is actually leaping, it's just the calendar skipping forwards to catch up to reality (with someone responding something to the effect of "if only there was a word describing a sudden skip forwards..."), or pointing out scientific flaws in pop fiction. I think that a steak restaurant or something did something similar back at him by interpreting his figurative statement about how science is true regardless of whether or not you believe in it overly literally and pointing out that science is actually a constantly evolving process whose current findings and theories may in fact be overturned in the future.
@@lnsflare1 but dogmatist is the synonym of pedant tho and dogma is a root word with a definition that I can use so I used dogma instead of the abstract noun for pedant.
Weird... I swear when I was a kid we had a bunch of poison ivy in our yard and I played in it and it bothered me a bit early on but then stopped. There were a bunch of rolley polies I liked to play with in there ( aka pillbugs ), which is why I kept going back. I don't know why, I just liked those little guys.
I remember seeing those giant hogweeds when little and my grandparents telling me to stay the heck away from them, with the story about the blisters. But they also told me that in Russia it was tried to use as feed for cattle, but found that it made the mil taste reaaaally bad
There was a woman who sickened some hospital staff, that were trying to help her when she fell ill. Her body was giving off some kind of toxic gas. www.discovermagazine.com/health/analysis-of-a-toxic-death
Interesting fact. dentaldepotarizona.com/history-of-halitosis/ "Let’s get something straight: Listerine did not invent bad breath, they just figured out a clever way to create a market for their productIt was during the 1920s that bad breath became more than just a fact of life. And it was Gerald Lambert, the son of the owner of Lambert Pharmaceutical Company, who came across the term, “halitosis,” in an old medical journal. Halitosis is an old Latin word meaning, “bad breath.” But because of its scientific-sounding name, people started to pay attention. It was framed as a medical condition that required treatment, and of course, the prescription was Listerine mouthwash."
The Reddit has not been thoroughly researched, so the depths of toxicity have not yet been determined. Researchers could release their current findings, however, they fear this may further deteriorate the already fragile ecosystem of the Reddit.
oohoohoo i love daffodils, they were mythologically named after narcissus (duh) and are one of my many favorite poisonous plants because of that intersection between science and mythology
Had to get rid of 3 hogweed in b.c. myself. Just used a garbage bag wrapped it up and cut the stem carfully and dug out its roots. I was really worried about it haha
Scishow: Hogweed is extremely dangerous and causes 3th degree burns. me: lives in the Netherlands with giant hogweed EVERYWHERE and never being bothered by it but now scared.
There is a slight error at about 22:15. We do know exactly what would happen if you consumed a bunch of tetrodotoxin, because it's also found in pufferfish AKA fugu. Just one or two milligrams of tetrodotoxin can be lethal for adults if consumed, so a shotglass full of it would kill you. Maybe immediate medical care could keep you on life support until the toxin wore off, IDK. Most (not all) people who get medical treatment for fugu poisoning survive, but they also aren't consuming a multiple grams of the stuff!
Me and my family are pretty sure I’m immune to poison ivy I went Camping and me and my cousins were playing on a hill all my cousins got really bad poison ivy except for me. I’ve also been in contact after that a couple times without a reaction. My grandfather is also immune.
with regard to venoms and oral toxicity... there is also the very real danger of absorbing a venom through the mucus membranes in your mouth (Many medications can be absorbed VERY fast by placing them under the tongue) as well as the danger of any small wounds, cuts, or abrasions you may have.
I was one of those pedants who corrected people about poisonous vs venomous snakes, but I know too many well educated people who find themselves saying poison when they mean venom. Want an example? Play the video at about 22:00. Plus, I have been at a world class zoo that had tags in front of each cage, identifying which snakes were "poisonous". Plus, so many people know the difference now that it's just lost all its fun.
I got poison ivy as a kid but took a slide down a tree (and a patch of poison ivy) which cut up my stomach and got a particularly bad rash but after that never got it again
I am one of those people who rolls around in poison ivy and show off to my friends that I am not allergic to it. I have never been. Ever since I was a child I have been rolling around in poison ivy accidentally and when are they friends with you allergic reactions I would only feel extend from where the plant got in touch with me. But after watching this video I’ll be a lot more careful I never knew do you could eventually get bad karma.
Oh my god giant hogweed never knew what it was called. We had it when we were growing up and when it died in the winter we would use the dead stalks as swords and hit each other with them. I thought people were lying that it would give you sunburns, I even covered the top of my hand with the sap and nothing happened.
I used to rub ivy and oak all over and even eat it because no one ever believes it doesn't bother me. But I find it interesting that sumac tears me up could it be different form of the oil?
Mangoes are related to poison ivy and can cause blisters, oral swelling. The oil in the mango skin is one of the culprits, sometimes the fruit flesh can also cause anaphylactic shock.
Cool episode! I'm thinking that some venom is toxic when consumed. Specifically, spiders. My cat hunts critters in the home and eats most of them. But she doesn't eat the ones that taste/smell bad, (like giant cockroaches). And she doesn't eat the spiders. I find the spiders killed but not eaten. My guess is that either they taste bad, or she did eat some and felt sick from it. She does seem to know not to eat them, though. (Thankfully)
Humans: "What a cool plant."
Giant Hog Weed: "I will immolate you from the inside out."
Important caveat to the "is it safe to drink venom" section. Even if a venom is safe-ish to drink, if you happen to have any sort of cut or sore in your mouth or gut you can wind up having a very bad time.
Why we drinking venom tho
I've dealt with giant hog weed, also known as bears claw here, on a regular basis as a landscape gardener. These things are best dealt with at a distance, any motorised tools is a no-go because the juices just splash everywhere.
Me too. I find that chopping them at their base with a pair of extendable garden shears before they blossom is the best way to remove the bulk of them. Then removing the roots with a pair of thick leather/waterproof gloves and a shovel. Burn all the bits of plant matter after allowing it to dry out for a few days
@@rachellee5797 I use a long pole with a concave blade to cut them down, simply staying out of the splash zone has been the best defence for me.
So... fire?
here in the Netherlands they are now experimenting with the use of liquid nitrogen to freeze kill the plant. (with out killing the native plans around it). And it seems to work well. with the added bonus that when frozen solid the removal of the now dead plant is a tiny bit less hard.
@@chrisoneill325 not directly as you might have the nasty problem that the sap will boil and still splash everywhere.
Also that would also harm the native plants that you would want to promote so they can help with dealing with the Hogweed.
Everything is [consumable]. Some things are [consumable] only once.
That's similar to one of the seventy maxims for highly effective mercenaries--"Everything can be airdropped at least once".
Sup, fellow worm. Oh. 😳
@John Smith Yeah, that little _survive_ caveat is a real doozy.
I recall hearing of a substance so bitter your body doesn't allow you to swallow it
And something’s are only consumable as a last meal!
That Giant Hogweed is called "Herkulesstaude" or "Riesenbärenklau" here in Germany and it's a ***ing nuisance. Beats me, why anyone would want to plant that in their backyards and gardens, when their much tamer cousins "Wilde Möhre" (wild carrot) looks almost the same. And isn't as dangerous to have around ^^'
same here in the Netherlands. however people do try to avoid them now.
but indeed they are hard to deal with. professionals are now trying to beat them with liquid nitrogen (only killing the hogweed. not the native plants)
we also call them ''reuzenberenklauw'' (Giant bear claw)
And the UK.
I think it can affect you for aaages afterwards too.
Oh. he said this
there's one in my neighbourhood in a community garden (also in Germany). They built a fence around it and put up a sign with a warning not to touch it. But I don't know why they wouldn't just eliminate it, especially since they made an effort to fence it in...
The hogweed seen in the wild is a hybrid between native hogweed and that huge species called giant hogweed. In the 70ties the non hybrid giant hogweed was often used in huge gardens as an ornamental plant because of it giant leafs and flowers.
The size of that plant cannot be compared to wild or hybrid hogweed, though it is not really a beauty, it is an eyecatcher for sure.
But today you almost never see these giants.
Yeah, i still got scars from playing with a Herkulesstaude as a kid... it was growing in the neighbourhood and was so pretty. never imagined such a dangerous flower to grow in germany
"They are not only toxic to us and our pets, but to plants"
- My friend Kevin, describing my ex after knowing they killed their 3rd succulent this month
Ooh. Even I've managed to keep most of my succulents alive. The two my husband smashed by falling on them when he had a seizure didn't make it.
@@sophierobinson2738 i hope your husband was and is ok 💖
@@EvilLOON It was a joke...
@@EvilLOON you're the one who needs to get a shrink
* nervous laughter * I might have just killed my only succulent 😳
A note on the blue-ringed octopus statement: though it's technically true that nobody's tested oral consumption of blue-ringed octopus venom specifically, the active ingredient - tetrodotoxin - *has* been, and is conclusively able to kill human beings if taken orally. The same toxin is present in the famed Japanese fugu, a type of pufferfish considered a delicacy but also well-known for being potentially fatal if improperly prepared. Fugu poisoning has been responsible for dozens of deaths in Japan over the last few hundred years, though strict regulations have helped to reduce this in recent years and most deaths now are the result of preparation by amateurs.
Even PROPERLY-prepared fugu has enough tetrodotoxin in it to affect the nerves in your mouth and throat and cause numbness and tingling. And can poison you if you eat several servings of it at once.
Some people in my family went camping one time. They found so great dead sticks that were perfect for roasting marshmallows on.
Turns out it was dead poison ivy. They had to go to the hospital the next day because their insides were on fire.
Libraries usually carry pamphlets about these plants and such during the summer. Antrim NH's library carried pamphlets like those when I lived there. A great library with great people by the way.
Thank you and stay safe!
When I was in high school, I had wild parsnip, one of the "less" potent relatives of Hogweed, sprayed all over my lower legs by a lawnmower that had the grass guard missing. I mean totally coated. Nothing was done about this because no one knew there was anything dangerous along with the grass. Actually, it felt nice and cooling in the summer heat.
Anyway, I developed a rash, and then it got worse. Picture those yellow bubbles completely covering someone's knees, calves, and ankles. I was in the hospital for 4 days. The PA who treated me had been a medic in Vietnam. He said he'd never seen a plant rash that bad. No one knew what the culprit was at the time, I figured it out myself years later.
It’s amazing how our bodies can instinctively know something.
That hogweed grew all over my dads property in Canada.
I just always had an aversion to it, even as a child it confused me staring at them but I just left them alone. Which they are all around his house, it’s impossible to walk around them.
I used to eat wild plants, which is dangerous as a child but this is one plant I stayed far away from.
Thank you instincts and evolution.
My rule of thumb: if I don't know for a fact that something isn't toxic, I don't eat it. It's done me pretty well so far.
Every couple of years you hear about Giant Hogweed on the news here in Europe, and I swear people fear it more than wild animals.
fun fact: The only relatively safe member of the Poison Ivy family are Mangoes.
Wait. What?
RELATIVELY SAFE?!
@@mimmyrose2970 yeah. relatively. there are people who are allergic to mangoes. I am allergic to them. once wasn't, but now is.
Someone ended up with urushiol rash with picking fresh mangoes from a tree. Apparently mangoes in stores are washed before you get them.
Ooooh didn't know mangoes are related to poison ivy. But yeah, the sap from mangoes (especially unripe mangoes) and mango trees can cause mild irritation
I swear sci was always one of the best science shows.
Was?
I was told about daffodils being poisonous when i was an early teen. I decided to be nice and cook for my papa. Had all the ingredients except onions....found them in the utility room. So lucky that my dad remembered we actually didn't have onions in the house before he ate the meal and figured out what I'd done. In my defence....onions and daf bulbs look similar to a 14 yr old 😂😂
Oh god
Fun fact, an entire family died from this mistake one time, pretty sad ngl.
Surprised you didn't notice it didn't smell like an onion when you were chopping it up, cooking it, or handling it.
I spent time as a wild land fire fighter. I have had ivy from Mississippi, and oak from Oregon and California. I have seen people exposed to sumac in Idaho, and Florida poison wood. Poison wood gave people huge blisters, but went away pretty quickly, didn't spread. Sumac made patches of blisters so close together that it just looked like the skin was oozing off, it seemed to persist the longest, pretty close between it and oak from California. Sumac didn't seem to spread either. Ivy makes less densely packed little blisters, but they all itch individually, so the sensation can be mentally draining. The ivy did spread, but it didn't have a lasting effect, it thinned out as it went. The worst exposure I have ever had came from oak in California. The initial rash seeps, and that ooze spreads the oil pretty quickly. This stuff in California grows like old growth rhododendron, so does not resemble other normally identifiable plants. We were cutting forests of the stuff with chainsaws before a local informed us what it was... It burns, it itches, the histamine reaction makes you bloat and retain water. Your skin gets saturated and damages easily, so any scratching causes easy marks that also itch... It takes forever to dry out and get rid of, if not dealt with immediately. Your body may eventually metabolize the irritants away, but the environment does not. Once you have had a sufficiently large exposure to the oils, and if you are prone to histamine responses, you get what I called sympathetic reactions. Where the worst affected places _remember_ the reaction, and responds as if the oil is already there. So, weeks after your exposure you inadvertantly get some on the cuff of your wrist... Bam! The whole darn resection can flare back up. I never experienced this with ivy. Once I was exposed to west coast oak, ivy never affected me again. Sumac never caused me to react, thankfully, it seemed the most miserable. Poison wood seemed crazy, only saw one exposure. The instantly oxidizing, black as tar, sap was usually a dead give away. Ivy had this response as well. Oak does oxidize black, but it takes much longer. I cannot remember if sumac had this response, but I assume it did.
Sumac is intense. I also had caught all 3 at once. It was the sumac that put me in the hospital. Feels like a 1000 needles running accross your body. The other two heal quickly. Two days max. I had sumac for 2 long weeks.
My friend's older sister wound up in hospital thanks to being down wind of some guy clearing scrub and brush in a lot by burning it. The vines were thick as rope, the smoke was toxic and she breathed it.
You don't have to break or crush poison oak leaves to get the itchy rash; in certain circumstances (like if you're super allergic to it) just touching the leafless sticks of it can curse you with its nasty itchy rash. Also, never ever breathe in the smoke from burning poison oak....you'll end up in the hospital.
Unrelated, but: I love how you guys manage to stay objective, correct yourself if you make an error, avoid anything political, and even manage to include multiple competing theories when there's disagreement among scientists about something!
Sounds kinda like science.
Sounds difficult, but easier in the long run than having critics offed.
@@stormevans6897 hopefully it stays that way!
19:40 rattlesnake is perfectly safe to eat, provided you cut off the head far enough back to have the venom glands stay with the head section. The meat is similar to fish.
Source: every year, the Nature Lodge staff at the Boy Scout camp I used to work for would "accidentally" kill one while relocating it outside of camp, and then "accidentally" cook it, and "accidentally" serve it to any staffers who wanted to try it. Usually it was gutted, then the cavity stuffed with lemon and herbs, then the whole lot wrapped in foil and thrown on the grill. Accidentally.
Edit for spelling
Would love to see genetic comparisons of those who appear to be urushiol-immune, and those who are not. That would be an interesting vid.
That would be a good idea for a paper.
Immunity can change over life and with exposure. I used to be immune when I was young. Now I am not.
Could be very interesting, depending on how you tested them.
Sadly we don’t have weak immune systems, because I am /incredibly/ allergic to grass, but not poison ivy
It seems to run in my family, after a fashion. My Grandfather, nephew, and myself can rip it out of the ground barehanded. Pretty much everyone else in the family reacts badly though. Maybe it's a recessive thing?
I haven’t tested it recently, but when I was a kid I was immune to poison ivy/oak/sumac. To avoid being picked on, I’d roll in it so if anyone touched me they’d have a reaction.
I used to go around and pull it off all the trees at my grandmother's so my cousin could play in the woods with me when she came to visit.
Be careful! The way urushiol works is cumulative. You can be one of those lucky folks for years and years, and then one day BAM!
@@SimuLord yeah but any bacteria on the plant will straight up kill them at that level of aids
🤣 Thats amazing! You win the best anti-bullying award ever!
Reminds me of the blanket octopus, which rips off the venomous tentacles of the portuguese man o'war to defend itself with, what a madlad
I think the only correct answer to drinking snake venom is “why?”
😎 Way back in the middle of the last century (when I was young) there was a saying among druggies; Anything that will kill you will get you high first. Not tempted to test the theory.
We have stinging nettles where I'm from. No poison oak or anything. The stings are awful but I leave them to grow in my garden for butterflies.
They make a very healthy tea. My grandpa used to make tea out of it and I grew up with it. Just wear leather gloves when picking it.
@@Andrew-my1cp yes I've heard that before, I should try it! Also dandelion tea. Got both in spades, for the pollinators!
@@Andrew-my1cp nettle soup is delicious
I heard that when prepared correctly/cooked they are mighty tasty too!
I heard you can also make fiber from them, a bit similar to linen.
What I find kind of hilarious is the fact that I have an autoimmune disease, but I'm immune to urushiol. I have touched many broken poison ivy plants with absolutely no effect, when you would think my overactive immune system would attack it immediately. Although I still avoid it because I've heard of people having no reaction, but after years of prolonged exposure they can develop a severe reaction (I once read this story about a man who was immune and a landscaper. He frequently pulled poison oak/ivy/sumac with his bare hands because he hated gloves. After about 12 years of repeated exposure he weeded his neighbor's property, and a few hours later developed such an intense reaction that he ended up hospitalized, and could never touch the plants again without a similar reaction happening.)
I’m also immune to poison ivy! I found that out when I took a face-first tumble into a huge patch of it as a kid and was perfectly fine, but my mom who came and helped me up was absolutely miserable with itchy rashes for weeks
Same here! I also know that meds that target IL-17 work well on me, and IL-17 is one of the proteins in poison ivy. I'm wondering if there is a connection, and have made myself a note to talk to my doctor about this the next time I see her.
Sounds like your immune system is too busy going after yourself lol
The last one about drinking venom... I believe the most correct answer is "don't do it."
Even if stomach acid would break it down to become relatively harmless, it could still get into your blood stream by slipping under your tongue where it might slip through the relatively thin barrier or into any minor cut you're not aware of... and if it survives the stomach acid well enough, it could be absorbed through your intestines. Just seems like a needless risk given that if you're wrong about it being safe it'll be a really, really bad time for you.
And while venoms are _meant_ to be injected for their harmful effects, I believe there are some that are still hazardous to soft tissues... they're just way, way worse when injected. So... yeah, don't get cocky by trying to create venom-infused alcohol or whatever.
my answer to "can you drink snake venom" is "most likely no" - it would be incredibly difficult to procure enough to drink
Also, some highly potent venoms, (eg. Black Mamba) have been known to be absorbed into the bloodstream through the skin (arms and legs). This may be due to micro-abrasions or scabs but that is difficult to confirm. Also, consider spitting cobras.
Of course you can drink snake venom. You can drink any and all venoms, poisons and liquid toxins.
Once.
If you'll survive the experience ... well ... that's a different matter. Best not to test it.
Tell that to Mithridates.
I used to be a landscaper. I was the one who was called to remove poison ivy. Never had it. I was also a late 70’s, early 80’s allergy shot experiment. I am not allergic to anything as an adult!
How about a follow on episode about poison hemlock and wild parsnip. The poison hemlock packs a punch - no giant hogweed put quite a painful burn. Both plants are running wild in my town.
These plants could've had their own 'Doctor House' mystery episodes
This explains why Daffodils will be Mom's favorite flower in a thousand years
I used to have minor reactions to poison ivy when I was younger but after my teens I noticed I was able to handle it without ill effect. My dad on the other hand almost died once when he cut the grass and went over some that sprayed back on his legs. Genetics and allergies are weird like that
On that last one about drinking snake venom, you could always end up with some minor internal bleeding that the venom could enter your bloodstream throguh
Of course you can drink snake venom. You can drink any and all venoms, poisons and liquid toxins.
Once.
If you'll survive the experience ... well ... that's a different matter. Best not to test it.
It could also be absorbed in the thin membranes in you mouth or intestines j think
I would've loved to also have fungi and their toxins in this discussion.
Fungi are so diverse and weird, they definitely would need their own video or they would overrun this one
Hank: That friend, you know which one I mean...
Me: Yes, I'm well aware... I am that friend.
I had a friend who lived further out in the country in Australia and relied on tank water for everything. Unfortunately, a large brown snake had made it's way into the tank and died inside. My friend became seriously ill from drinking this water and the ambos immediately assumed snake venom. He was administered the anti venom. He survived this ordeal at the age of 75 but it took weeks for him to recover.
Something that is not mentioned here is that you can actually build tolerance to poison oak. I have seen this first hand. I have always been very sensitive to it. That was untill I went through a winter where I had permanent moderate to serious infection for an entire winter because I could not stay away from it at my work. And after that winter I have to fear it less because now I go through it and maybe get a some small rashes that go away in a week instead of multiple. Or have nothing happen at all. I don't think it's been studied but it's common knowledge up here in Norcal.
Thanks for the bit on giant hogweed! I think I might have some growing on my property, so it looks like I'm going to have to do some plant identification...
So, one of my mom's grandfathers got so sick of poison ivy rashes that he got buck naked and rolled around in a bush of it. Apparently he didn't go into anaphylaxis but pretty much couldn't move for a few weeks. From what she recounted, it actually worked though, his body no longer reacted to it. This same great grandfather was one of two of mine that lost a foot in the Civil War... both great grandfathers on my mom's side loved the fact that they both were missing opposite feet because that meant they could buy one pair of shoes and each wear one which saved them a lot on footwear lol.
For reference, my parents had me later on, both my grand mothers were alive when the titanic was still floating, one of my grandfathers was born in 1905, the other one was alive in the late 1800's and I feel old AF just typing that.
I didn’t know I’d hear the phrase “the flamingo section” today… but now I’m going to use it all the time
A town here in Canada just put up signs warning people to stay away from the Giant Hogweed. The right side of the sign, which shows you what it looks like is covered by...you guessed it, an actual giant hogweed...
A British couple came to Tobago on vacation and saw the manchineel tree near the beach and decided to try out the fruit. They survived after getting medical treatment. Don't shelter under the tree or burn it either. The tree is just plain evil
Olivia is back, and with her my heart blooms like thousand daffodils
Thats what i thought, but I think this is just a compilation of previous episodes
Olivia from Tinder? She's trying to get into my dms.. all 76 of her.
Sadly no, this is a compilation of previous episodes. You can tell because Michael Aranda has short hair and less body fat than today. (...is he doing ok?)
Simpin today, huh.
When talking about drinking venom and the blue ring, octopus came up. Talked about how deadly it is. Probably best not to eat, but we don't know the effects of eating tetrodotoxin. 22:10 Yes, we do from pufferfish fugu tetrodotoxin. Pufferfish are poisonous blue-ringed octopus that is venomous and poisonous when you bite or swallow the venom gland.
Urishol is also in mango skin, I only know because I got worried after I ate the whole skin when I was 10. I was fine and it is actually okay to eat the skin (as long as you’re not allergic) and I still eat most of the skin today, they taste quite bitter, like a savoury version of the mango flesh. I quite like it.
I have a weird reaction to Mango skin - touching not eating - in that my skin goes waxy after touching it. Not painful or sore, just waxy feeling. Lasts about a day.
The titles are getting interesting with time!
Wouldn't be surprised if this seems weird but... have always found Michael's voice to have a soothing effect, always a delight to hear and see him😁
In Alaska we call hogs tail cows tail but I've never notice the chemical burns. Growing up as a kid me and by brothers would sword fight with sticks and also though it was fun to walk around and "cut" down huge fields of those things, green or dried, never got any burns. Kinda scary I did that for years with no incidents
Thanks for the info on venom vs poison...I just never thought about that.
Plants: Peace was never an option!
Poison Ivy: BEST advice I ever saw regarding urushiol was to think about it being on you like clear axle grease. You can't see it, but it's thick like that. So if you were exposed, you need to scrub it off you like you were scrubbing off thick axle grease. Since I have been doing that, I rarely get more than an annoying level of reaction; couple little blisters that heal up in a couple days.
If you've never gotten rotten, stinking, jet-black axle grease on you so you can understand...well, lucky you. But I can set you up with some if you want!
I was told calamine lotion was used to dry poison ivy out. So whenever my poison ivy would itch I used a hair blow dryer and get it as hot as I could. It would stop the itching & dried it out quicker.
"like plants are pretty chill, but there are some that wake up everyday and choose violence"
* looks over at my venus flytrap that I may or may not call Audrey III (Trey) * 👀
"Take that, science pedants!
Neil DeGrasse Tyson: "You called?"
I dont think neil is dogmatic and neither is science dogma.
He openly criticises academic institutions and their teaching methods.
Dogma is something that is laid down by an authority and is indisputably true while you could get two scientists arguing over the date of any biological or geological event.
@@anuragmukherjee6694 I didn't say that he's dogmatic, I said that he was a pedant. This is because he's memetically famous for doing stuff like saying something along the lines of "there's no such things as leap years because nothing is actually leaping, it's just the calendar skipping forwards to catch up to reality (with someone responding something to the effect of "if only there was a word describing a sudden skip forwards..."), or pointing out scientific flaws in pop fiction.
I think that a steak restaurant or something did something similar back at him by interpreting his figurative statement about how science is true regardless of whether or not you believe in it overly literally and pointing out that science is actually a constantly evolving process whose current findings and theories may in fact be overturned in the future.
@@lnsflare1 but dogmatist is the synonym of pedant tho and dogma is a root word with a definition that I can use so I used dogma instead of the abstract noun for pedant.
@@lnsflare1 actually I misread dogmatist as the synonym for pedant instead it was similar to pedant,so...sorry for the misunderstanding.
"damn nature, you scary"
-ghandi probably
-Ollie (Family Guy)
That reminds me of the "damn internet, you scary" podcast/RUclips channel...
I missed her so much lol good to see her again
I suppose we shouldn't go so fanboy on dear Olivia.
@@jerelull9629 I suppose yu should mind your business my dear boy (in my best England accent)
In Sweden you are supposed to call the county when coming across giant hogweed in the wild and report its location so that they can take it down.
Weird... I swear when I was a kid we had a bunch of poison ivy in our yard and I played in it and it bothered me a bit early on but then stopped. There were a bunch of rolley polies I liked to play with in there ( aka pillbugs ), which is why I kept going back. I don't know why, I just liked those little guys.
I remember seeing those giant hogweeds when little and my grandparents telling me to stay the heck away from them, with the story about the blisters. But they also told me that in Russia it was tried to use as feed for cattle, but found that it made the mil taste reaaaally bad
The Return of the Giant Hogweed
One of my favorite tunes by one of my favorite prog bands.
Came here to recommend it. Genesis, by the way, off of Nursery Crime.
I lived in South Florida for 32 years and had no idea about that little apple tree 👀
I think they have one at Bok Tower garden. I remember a tree with "Do Not Touch!" signs all around it.
Back in the mid eighties they had some on the U Miami campus. Near the student union. Probably got rid of them since.
Is it possible to knock someone out with body odor, halitosis, or flatus?
There was a woman who sickened some hospital staff, that were trying to help her when she fell ill. Her body was giving off some kind of toxic gas. www.discovermagazine.com/health/analysis-of-a-toxic-death
There's a video out there titled "The fart that killed 10,000 people". I haven't seen it. Simon Whistler narrates it.
PSA: deodorant is awesome
Some of my coworkers (men and women) smell so bad I wish I could get them to wear deodorant 🤢
Interesting fact.
dentaldepotarizona.com/history-of-halitosis/
"Let’s get something straight: Listerine did not invent bad breath, they just figured out a clever way to create a market for their productIt was during the 1920s that bad breath became more than just a fact of life. And it was Gerald Lambert, the son of the owner of Lambert Pharmaceutical Company, who came across the term, “halitosis,” in an old medical journal. Halitosis is an old Latin word meaning, “bad breath.” But because of its scientific-sounding name, people started to pay attention. It was framed as a medical condition that required treatment, and of course, the prescription was Listerine mouthwash."
No mention of reddit? Pretty sure that the amount of venom and bile from there is enough to choke a rattlesnake
The Reddit has not been thoroughly researched, so the depths of toxicity have not yet been determined. Researchers could release their current findings, however, they fear this may further deteriorate the already fragile ecosystem of the Reddit.
In Denmark it they are called bearclaw and you call the local highway department, if you see them when you drive by.
there was a lot of poison ivy back in my home town, never had a reaction to it. I seem to be one of the few folks who aren't affected by it.
Great to know all the information. Thanks for sharing 👍 Very much appreciated.
oohoohoo i love daffodils, they were mythologically named after narcissus (duh) and are one of my many favorite poisonous plants because of that intersection between science and mythology
Yes! A long episode about toxins :D
This nap is going to go insane thanks SciShow
Daffodils are the national flower of my country. It all makes sense now :)
CC says hogweed is in “reigning Washington.” That actually sounds like what he said but it should be”rainy Washington.”
Sometimes, it's fun to proofread the CCs. Sometimes, I can hear why the CCs made those mistakes, too.
Had to get rid of 3 hogweed in b.c. myself. Just used a garbage bag wrapped it up and cut the stem carfully and dug out its roots. I was really worried about it haha
Scishow: Hogweed is extremely dangerous and causes 3th degree burns.
me: lives in the Netherlands with giant hogweed EVERYWHERE and never being bothered by it but now scared.
There is a slight error at about 22:15. We do know exactly what would happen if you consumed a bunch of tetrodotoxin, because it's also found in pufferfish AKA fugu. Just one or two milligrams of tetrodotoxin can be lethal for adults if consumed, so a shotglass full of it would kill you. Maybe immediate medical care could keep you on life support until the toxin wore off, IDK. Most (not all) people who get medical treatment for fugu poisoning survive, but they also aren't consuming a multiple grams of the stuff!
Me and my family are pretty sure I’m immune to poison ivy I went Camping and me and my cousins were playing on a hill all my cousins got really bad poison ivy except for me. I’ve also been in contact after that a couple times without a reaction. My grandfather is also immune.
the latest episode of tuca and bertie really makes you think about how dangerous plants can be lol
On the 1971 Genesis album Nursery Cryme there is a song called The Return Of The Giant Hogweed. That's where I learned about that plant.
'La manzanilla de la muerte" gives me a hundred years of life
It's Hank. That friend: It's Hank...
... but then again, that's why we're here. 🙂
This was a good video. I learned a lot. Keep up the good work.
FINALLY ALL MY FAVORITE THINGS IN ONE VIDEO
with regard to venoms and oral toxicity... there is also the very real danger of absorbing a venom through the mucus membranes in your mouth (Many medications can be absorbed VERY fast by placing them under the tongue) as well as the danger of any small wounds, cuts, or abrasions you may have.
I was one of those pedants who corrected people about poisonous vs venomous snakes, but I know too many well educated people who find themselves saying poison when they mean venom. Want an example? Play the video at about 22:00. Plus, I have been at a world class zoo that had tags in front of each cage, identifying which snakes were "poisonous". Plus, so many people know the difference now that it's just lost all its fun.
I got poison ivy as a kid but took a slide down a tree (and a patch of poison ivy) which cut up my stomach and got a particularly bad rash but after that never got it again
GREAT SCISHOW CONTENT ITS BEEN TOO LONG
So many options to try out but a person has only one life...sad reality 😔
I am one of those people who rolls around in poison ivy and show off to my friends that I am not allergic to it. I have never been. Ever since I was a child I have been rolling around in poison ivy accidentally and when are they friends with you allergic reactions I would only feel extend from where the plant got in touch with me. But after watching this video I’ll be a lot more careful I never knew do you could eventually get bad karma.
Oh my god giant hogweed never knew what it was called. We had it when we were growing up and when it died in the winter we would use the dead stalks as swords and hit each other with them. I thought people were lying that it would give you sunburns, I even covered the top of my hand with the sap and nothing happened.
Aww. Young Michael reminds me of how much I used to have a huge crush on him 😂🤫
Do you not like him still?
@@helenaren there’s too much of him nowadays
@@helenaren i plead guilty 😂
Cool! I usually think critters are the only things I need to be cautious of in the wild.
I used to rub ivy and oak all over and even eat it because no one ever believes it doesn't bother me. But I find it interesting that sumac tears me up could it be different form of the oil?
better late than never. ive listened to this many times must have been in an autoplay loop :)
Thx for this interesting video guys. Love the show!
Maybe that's why the daffodil is the emblem of cancer awareness week.
I had to throw my head back and cackle because I am that friend. Or rather that mom. I gave my kids the “venomous vs poisonous” lecture yesterday
Isn’t tetrodotoxin the same toxin that is in certain pufferfish liver? That can kill someone when ingested orally if i’m not mistaken
Mangoes are related to poison ivy and can cause blisters, oral swelling. The oil in the mango skin is one of the culprits, sometimes the fruit flesh can also cause anaphylactic shock.
Well this is one very awesome SciShow video
Very good video and always a great watch
Cool episode! I'm thinking that some venom is toxic when consumed. Specifically, spiders. My cat hunts critters in the home and eats most of them. But she doesn't eat the ones that taste/smell bad, (like giant cockroaches). And she doesn't eat the spiders. I find the spiders killed but not eaten. My guess is that either they taste bad, or she did eat some and felt sick from it. She does seem to know not to eat them, though. (Thankfully)
Used to be fairly badly allergic to poison ivy, now it only causes rashes when it gets in a cut or other opening in my skin