I saw this in the newspaper. So sad. Do you think it is true? Is this common?
http://www.dailyastorian.com/free/note-to-elk-don-t-eat-english-yew/article_c512c05c-68d1-11e3-b0bd-0019bb2963f4.html
Poisonous Yews
Yes it's true, Yew is also poisonous to livestock and Horses, apparently a pretty well known fact in equine circles. I just found out this year too.
http://www.understanding-horse-nutrition.com/yew.html
Very strange, I'm very dubious about its veracity. Deer are usually immune to yew toxins, and eat it freely - so much so, that churchyards (which were typically fenced) were the only places where yew could be grown easily. In the wild, yew usually only grows on steep slopes and crags, as they're the only places it can escape deer browsing.
Different matter for horses, they are much more susceptible to the toxins. Cattle are intermediate.
Resin
I found this site, which says yews aren't particularly toxic to elk.
Deer reportedly are a big fan of yews around here, but none seem to die from eating them.
http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/livestock/horses/facts/07-055.htm
It might well be dependent on how much the elk or deer eat. Deer in our neighborhood nibble on the tips of yew needles, then move on to the Aucuba or other tastier fare. If a starving elk were to eat large amounts of yew branches, it could be quite a different matter.
If yews could be relied upon to poison deer, I have a feeling they (yews, that is) would be flying out of garden centers around here.
This message was edited Dec 24, 2013 6:28 PM
And since there is a Yew native to the Pacific Northwest United States (Taxus brevifolia, Pacific Yew: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/58124/) then it would not be out of the question that the genus has been experienced in the wild by wild hoofed browsers.
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