toxic mushrooms as organic poison

[Whistler]

There are some poisonous mushrooms that can kill humans and cats and dogs. I was surprised to find that this hasn't been taken advantage of, grown and marketed as organic rat poison.

[Squirrel]

Probably because if it was widely publicized, then people would be making their own, and if you wanted to sell it, you can't patent an already existing mushroom- unless you selectively bred the mushroom. And then it would be silly for them to patent a mushroom when there are so many lethal varieties already in existence.... It is a really good idea, though, just not a financially-stable investment.

[Whistler]

haha

I guess another issue is that with snap-traps, the mouse is dead and you don't have to worry about disposing of hazardous waste.

[Violet]

Also, would evolutionary biology suggest that as they've both existed in the same space long enough, the rodents would have learned not to eat the mushrooms?

[Portia]

I think you should write a scholarly article with this as its subtitle. On lit theory, to be clear, not fungus biology, heavens.

[Whistler]

Mycophiles, lepidopterists, and ecologists: the scientific legacy of several modernist authors