Posted by Leasen Oste on March 9, 2006

Q: If the Wild Parsnip uses it's juice as a defense mechanism against humans by giving us a wicked sun burn, does this work on animals as well? What about animals with fur or scales?

A: I like your thinking on this but there is an assumption here that needs to be cleared up. Although we do get a really bad "sun burn" from this plant, it is most likely NOT a defense against humans but some other group of animals. The chemicals that help protect the Wild Parsnip are most likely useful to keep insects from feeding on it and we just happen to be especially suceptible to this combination. Since most mammals have a thick coat of fur and lizards have scales, it's unlikely that these chemicals would get on the skin of wild animals and cause this burn. My guess, and it's only a guess, however is that for many animals, if one smeared this chemical on a mouse's or deer's bare skin, for example, and then exposed this to the sun, one would see the same kind of damage as we get on their skin. Of course, the only way to know would be to try this out. Many kinds of plants have chemicals that help them avoid being eaten but just because humans are affected by these chemicals doesn't mean we're the target of this defense. I hope this helps. Thanks for asking.

John Wiessinger ( March 12, 2006)