Death could be lurking in you own backyard!Apr 30 '01 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line Look at photos of poisonous plants online or in a book, knowing a certain plant is poisonous is useless unless you know what it looks like!
After a long break from Epinions, I've decided to return.... what motivated me to put my fingers to my keyboard was a very scary experience that happened in our home this weekend. Here's a little background on this story... I have been a CourtTV junkie since the OJ trial... now of course Mr. Simpson isn't lurking in my backyard, so I imagine you are wondering what CourtTV has to do with this Epinion, read on. Between all the real life murder and mayhem I see on CourtTV I heard (sometime ago) a snippet about a women who had been convicted of murdering her husband by poisoning him. Her crime had almost gone undetected as she had used Oleander to accomplish her vile task, and it wasn't detected, until specifically looked for by the forensic scientists. Now before you start thinking I may have some diabolical plans for my darling husband, please continue reading.... Last weekend, my landscape guy arrives and our 2 year old had been busy scattering her toys around the backyard and I felt I should clear them out of his way prior to mowing, etc. As I was dragging our garden hose to the side of the house he asked me if I would mine moving it away from the Oleander bush. "Oh sure", I replied, "Which one is that?" The large one at the end of the house with all the pretty pink flowers all over it. The same pretty little flowers that two days before my 2 year old had picked and brought in to me. I continued on my task of cleaning the yard, yet Oleander... Oleander.... keep nagging at my brain, and I couldn't understand why. Finally later on that afternoon I was unable to shake the feeling that there was something I needed to know about this plant. I jump online and begin my research. Of course the the first thing I see is a link to "POISONOUS PLANTS" ... and then it all came flowing back and I remembered the story about the woman from years ago. Good Lord, I have a LETHAL... yes LETHAL plant growing in the area where my precious child plays, and had no idea. The people who lived in my home before me had 4 children and didn't know, my gardener didn't know.... As I continued to read online, I leaned a few things that scared me dearly. ONE LEAF from an Oleander bush contains enough toxin to kill a grown adult, not to mention of course that it will also kill, children and pets. I also have 3 dogs and 2 cats that inhabit my yard. In July of 2000, two little brothers, ages 2 & 3, in California had been discovered by their mother in their backyard chewing a leaf from the tree. The boys hadn't even digested them, only chewed on them, yet less than 48 hours later they were dead. Instead of going on and on about how lethal the plant is I will provide you with a link to read about the story and it also contains links to poisonous plant pages, etc. http://cbsnews.com/now/story/0%2C1597%2C219262-412%2C00.shtml?clkd=iwm I knew then I had to get this tree from my premises immediately and took to it like I never had anything in my life, hacking and smashing away, until little more than some mulch was left poking above the ground. I called my landscaper and asked him how to kill the remainder and he told me to pour salt, a lot of it, on the remainders. I did, and then covered the area with a trash bag, and made a lovely rock garden above that. Feeling I now had my lethal yard under control I wanted to relax and spend some quiet time thanking my stars above that we had been fortunate enough to escape tragedy. I decided to relax in my front yard.... as I sat down and took a long sip of good ole' southern iced tea I looked across to my next door neighbor's yard and nearly died.... separating my next door neighbor's home and the one next to that, are THREE 8 FOOT TALL OLEANDER bushes, covered with their beautiful, poisonous flowers.... no, I didn't go take my axe over to their yard, I just decided to retreat to my own backyard. I guess I will spend the next few days considering how to bring the subject up with them. What has come to mind in this experience to me is this... I consider myself a pretty informed parent on the safety of my children, I have always child proofed my home, locked up medicines and household poisons, use car seats and seat belts on my children, try to get them to eat healthy foods, and yet somehow I ended up having poison right out in the open. I started to beat myself up for not knowing that this plant was dangerous, until I discovered that virtually none of my friends or family were aware of it either... some did know it would hurt pets. Manufacturers of chemicals have to label their bottles and the like, yet home owners or people planting these plants don't have to disclose or warn anyone that within reach of many could be a plant that would kill them. I feel that if a person is going to have in their front yard, littering the sidewalk, a plant that could kill, perhaps a little sign in front of it might be in order. In conclusion, I hope that by turning my ignorance into new found knowledge, I can encourage all parents to investigate what lurks within their own boundaries and hopefully prevent a tragedy in their home.  |
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