Turns out, we didn’t have quite the right information for ‘yew’

We start off today with a correction to last week’s correction. Relax this isn’t 30,000 lost emails or a salacious dossier. It’s just getting things correct from the source.

You see, sometimes when you quote people and they see that quote in print, they realize that it may not be as complete or exact as they’d like. That’s the case with Monique Slipher, whom I quoted on this page last weekend.

Recall, she is the curator of the fungi collection at Washington State University in Pullman. While she admits I got the quote correct, she was not completely satisfied with what she saw.

So, I extend the courtesy of making her comments better after she contacted me again. Again, this is a pet column, not critical journalism, per se.

Regarding the toxicity of both wild and cultivated yew plants for landscaping, Slipher told my editor, “Charlie Powell quoted me extensively in his column (last) weekend, but there is one important error in it — which I want to emphasize is not his fault but mine in my original email to him!”

I’m glad Slipher respectfully offered the mea culpa. That’s the mark of a real professional.

Slipher went on to explain, “He (correctly) quoted me as saying that “for humans it’s specifically the red berries ... that are toxic” — but I had misstated that, actually the opposite is true.

“What I meant to type was ‘for humans it’s ONLY specifically the red berries ... that are NOT toxic; all other parts of any yew are poisonous.’ Only the fleshy red part of the aril is considered not poisonous — but the seed inside is toxic, along with leaves, twigs, wood, roots, etc. Bottom line is, don’t eat any parts of yew shrubs or trees of any variety, and don’t let your kids, pets or livestock consume any amount of yew either.”

I appreciate any reader’s due diligence like this. Thank you, Monique.

Also, this week I was asked a cat behavior question. An old friend and colleague saw me in a physician’s office and asked about a 4-month-old kitten they’d gotten. It behaves in a more standoffish way than previous kitties they’ve had.

Later in the discussion, the gentleman said he was a bit perplexed since the kitty actually gets in on the wife’s side of the bed after lights out, and snoozes the night away.

I asked more about the kitten’s origin which prompted the gentleman to suggest it might have come from a feral cat rescue. Ah, that explains a lot.

Feral cat colonies are often trapped and rescued to spay or neuter the animals and then return them back to the location where they were found. “Trap, neuter, return,” or TNR, has been shown to reduce the number of feral cats at a given location rather than purging the colony and leaving an ideal environment open for recolonization.

Sometimes some of the cats, usually as kittens, may be rendered to possession (a correct legal term). This is because most cats in feral colonies only live about 2 or 2½ years. This is why a kitten may originate from a feral colony as an “adoptee.”

Feral cat colonies are often fed by well-meaning volunteers who are usually, but not always, women. Women are typically more compassionate to the plight of feral cats. This may explain this kitten’s proclivity for the lady of the house.

There are a hundred things that can kill a cat in a feral colony, and usually only one thing that helps keep them alive: your community’s cat ladies, childless or not.

Powell, of Pullman, retired as public information officer for Washington State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine in Pullman. This column reflects his thoughts and no longer represents WSU. He may be contacted at charliepowell74@gmail.com.