Look but don’t touch!

From novels to fairy tales and venomous creatures to toxic plants, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History delves into the history of poison – in myths, legends, science, and nature.

Whether used as a major plot point or character backstory  in Macbeth and Alice in Wonder Land and Harry Potter or employed as chemical weaponry in nature to eat or avoid being eaten, poisonous substances seem to show up just about anywhere… But at the same time, some of these creatures and plants can be used to heal, or to create altered realities, dye fabric, etc.

Your favorite chocolate bar could make your dog extremely ill, while poison ivy can be eaten by white-tailed deer and other creatures without incident. What’s poisonous to one is not necessarily poisonous to others. I think that can be categorized as fascinating…