By “we” I mean birds and mammals, and I’m not sure how to feel about it. In a field study in southern Arizona, researchers observed which local animals eat the peppers and which say, “No, thank you,” even though the peppers are easily accessible on low shrubs. Video observations of plants showed that birds eat the peppers but mammals do not. Peppers do not benefit when mammals eat them because they destroy the seeds, which then fail to germinate. It is the taste of capsaicin that keeps many mammals from eating the peppers, but birds are insensitive to this chemical, so it does not deter them from eating peppers that contain it.

Source: Daily Sun August 01, 2023 02:45 UTC