Mexican scientists made an extraordinary discovery: birds fumigate their nests to protect their young. This finding, documented in Jaap de Roode's book "Doctors by Nature," highlights how animals self-medicate.
Monarch butterflies offer another example. Mothers select medicinal milkweed to lay eggs, safeguarding their caterpillars from parasites. Infected female butterflies lay eggs on medicinal milkweed, reducing parasite transmission to their offspring.
Chimpanzees also exhibit medicinal behavior. They ingest bitter plant parts to combat worms or swallow bristly leaves to trap and expel intestinal worms. These behaviors demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of natural remedies.
Birds use cigarette butts to fumigate nests, reducing parasites. Researchers replaced natural nest linings with artificial ones, adding live or dead ticks. Nests with cigarette butts had fewer parasites, proving the birds' active fumigation.
Animals can also choose their own foods to create a diet and eat less. When given a choice of medicinal plants, animals learn to associate specific foods with recovery from certain illnesses. This knowledge can be applied in livestock farming.
Bees collect resin to protect against infections, creating propolis. Rough, grooved hive boxes allow bees to deposit more propolis, improving their health. This helps bees produce more offspring.
Woolly bear caterpillars protect themselves from parasitic flies by consuming plants with alkaloids. Infected caterpillars have heightened taste receptors for alkaloids, driving them to eat more of these protective substances. Japanese scientists patented a mosquito repellent based on chemicals from plants that attract cats.
Animals' bodies often instinctively know what to do. Woolly bear caterpillars consume more medicinal substances when sick. Sheep and goats learn to associate specific foods with recovery, using them again when ill.
Animals also learn from each other. Chimpanzees have various methods for folding and swallowing leaves, with new methods copied by the group. Traditional healers have studied animals for millennia, learning about medicine from them.
Native American "bear shamans" imitated bears to learn medicine. The consumption of willow bark (containing salicylic acid, the basis for aspirin) by bears emerging from hibernation is one such example. Preserving nature and studying animals can lead to new medicines for humans.
By studying animals, we can learn about medicinal plants and investigate their potential benefits for ourselves. Animals are incredible, and studying them can help both them and us.