Humans are fascinated by gore and violence, but even more so the mysterious and unsolved.

Interest in these disturbing and unpleasant subjects is called morbid curiosity,

and it has gripped millions of people throughout the ages. I am one of those people. My name is Halley,

and this is the Morbid Curiosity Podcast.

Boyle-Higieg.combeianandread. podcast.

To be a natural death in the garden.

To the uninitiated, plants are beautiful, serene, stationary background actors in a world of mammals and other moving, active beings.

They are alive, but only just. But to those in the know, plants are living things that actively participate in the world around them.

Most surprising is the fact that while beautiful, most plants are not particularly friendly.

Like most creatures that have survived for millions of years, plants have evolved sophisticated defense mechanisms

to protect themselves from the creatures that might eat them, damage them, or otherwise harm them.

Plant defense mechanisms are mostly invisible to the naked eye, toxic chemical agents hidden inside,

released when the plant is eaten, and only apparent when it's too late. However, some plants

have obvious defenses, such as the thorns of a rose or the spikes of a cactus. Some of these

look small, but have a mighty effect, such as the stinging hairs on the nettle, and the oil

on the leaves of poison ivy, which causes an intensely

itchy rash. Plant defense mechanisms are fascinating, and in this episode we're going to

explore the different ways plants protect themselves. We'll also explore some of the more

extreme examples of these defenses.

A staggering number of animal species eat plants.

Some are large grazing mammals, including deer or cattle, but most are insect species

and arthropods, as in hundreds of them.

...