There’s tonnes of blackthorn and a lot of sheep in the UK and I’ve never heard it to be problematic. Sheep ate pretty dim, but bramble is definitely not thorny/spiney enough to get caught bar the odd occasion. I’m sure I heard about a shrub (African maybe) that sheep can get completely ensnared in and die, but can’t find it!
Comment on Carnivory in Plants
xia@lemmy.sdf.org 5 weeks ago
I remember watching this farmer make a case otherwise, that ordinary bramble (?) is specialized to ensnare and trap fluffy sheep, providing chemical nutrients to the bush.
Redfox8@mander.xyz 5 weeks ago
Zagorath@aussie.zone 5 weeks ago
An interesting theory, but there are good reasons to doubt the claim, including the fact that woolly sheep are a recent product of human breeding, and that wild sheep are not even native to the same areas blackberries grow.