Deadly Taxus

During the years I worked as an Extension Agent few events stand out in my mind like the young dairy farmer who had mysteriously lost an entire field of young calves.

I looked up one morning from my desk to see one of my Homemaker Club member's husband coming in the door.  He approached the secretary's desk with some agitation as I approached to say hello.  "Where's the Ag. Agent?  I need help--now!" he sputtered.  The Agriculture agent soon appeared and the story came tumbling out.  He had put his, newly weaned, replacement heifers in the front field of his farm close to the house.  He wanted them nearby so he could monitor their health and feed them easily.  They had grazed and thrived in the field for a few weeks and he was getting ready to move them in with his herd.  Then, this morning, he went out to feed and found them all dead.  He was frantic to find out what had killed all his heifers.

Together the two men left and returned with samples of the feed, mineral, grasses, water, and anything else they could find in the field to test.  These were sent off to the University of Kentucky research department for analysis.  In the mentime one of the calves was sent to the Diagnostic Research Center, which would test for anything that might have poisoned them, such as pesticides or just plan malice.  Then they waited.

In the meantime, I had an occasion to visit with the young wife who told me how utterly distraught her husband was over the loss of the calves.  Not only were they an expensive loss but he took the blow to his farming skills very seriously.  It was a gloomy visit for they both felt very low about the events.

The results from the samples sent from the field came in first.  None of the items showed anything except what should be there.  There was nothing in the feed, mineral, grasses or water that could explain the sudden death of the calves.  In frustration, the couple pinned their hopes on the tests on the calf.

Several days later the young couple returned to the office with the official report from the Diagnostic Lab on the heifer.  The Agriculture Agent studied the form and excused himself for a moment.  On entering the outer office he grabbed a book and started thumbing through it mumbling to himself.  "Yep.  There it is.  Oh, no." he whispered to himself as he found the reference he was searching for.  Visibly girding himself, he marched back into the office.  He approached the young farmer and his wife and said, "It seems that your calf died from ingesting taxus." 

With puzzlement on his face the farmer looked up and inquired, "What on earth is that?"  "Well", the Ag. Agent replied, "it is an evergreen shrub that is often used in landscaping.  It's extremely poisonous and it is possible that someone trimmed their bushes and dumped the clippings in your field." Before he could continue, an anguished wail came from the young wife.  "What do they look like?" she moaned.  Upon hearing the description, she fell into sobs. "I did it!  I killed them all!"

 It seems she had decided to trim the bushes in front of their home and cleaned up the yard by, indeed, tossing the refuse over the fence.  Neither of them knew of the extreme toxicity of the taxus bush.  Even small amounts can kill cattle, either freshly cut or months later as dried stems. 

Their marriage survived the event, but she still won't talk about that time to this day.

I know I'll never forget it.  There will never be a taxus shrub on our farm.