The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1924-08-14
BY DIR. HOWARD WEIGH
eterinarian, Montana State College

"ROM this time on to early Sep
X TENDER is the dangerous time
= for lupine poisoning of sheep on
the Montana range. Some poisoning
has already been reported and it is
possible that the latter part of Aug
ust will see an increase in the num-
Der of cases.
There are many species of lupines
found in Montana and neighboring
states and many, if not all, are re-
sponsible for injury to stock. The
lupines vary in height from ten inch
es to three feet. The stems grow in
clusters from a perennial roo or
branch freely. In many species the
entire plant is covered with fine
hairs, giving it a grayish appearance.
The leaves are compound, the leaf
let's attaching to the leaf stock at its
extreme tip. The flowers are borne
in long lose spikes on the ends of the
branches. They are shaped like those
of the pea and are colored in varying
shades of blue and white. These
flowers appear in midsummer, most
ly in June and July, and are followed
by short, hairy pods, containing usu-
ally three to six seeds. The pods,
and especially the seeds contain most
of the poison, the leaves and stems
being relatively harmless.
Lupines are plentiful throughout
the entire west. They thrive under
a variety of conditions but are espec-
tally abundant on dry hillsides. Lit
tie attempt is made to eradicate them
unless it is desired to crop the land,
Than cultivation nrnmnf1u dacfrnUc |
them.
Sheep mainly, but occasionally
horses and cattle are poisoned by eat
ing the seeds and seed pods of var
ious specie of lupine that are found
all over Montana. Many cases have
been observed where more than half
a band of sheep have died in a few
hours after grazing through a patch
of lupines when the seeds were still
in the pods. Owing to the fact that
many stockmen feed lupine hay with
bad results they believe this plant
to be harmless. This is because the
seeds usually fall out before the lu-
pines r cut, or r so ripe that in
handling the hay the pods r shat
and the seeds fall out. Lupine
hay cut early with seeds still in the
pods will be found poisonous to all
The most noticeable symptom of
poisoning is a great frenzy.
Sheep rush about in all directions
as if crazy, running blindly into fenc-
es and all other objects. The move
ments become more violent, the ami
nal falling and struggling upon the
md lus-r ~ oanu,,1oSN-1 ~
ont to three hours from the
time the first symptoms were OBJ
served.
Sheep frequently will bloat badly
upon lupines but this is not neces-
5arily an indication of poisoning. The
Floating is apparently from eating too
much and will occur, under similar
conditions, with alfalfa, clover or any
other leguminous plants. Treatment
bloating from lupines is the same
in any other case of bloat.
1t is believed that many horses suf-
fer from lupine poisoning in a chronic
form, the condition being known as
hypnosis, in which gradual emacia-
ton, weakness, lack of endurance,
and finally death, follow in order.
Such a condition has been produced
sxperimentally by feeding seeds and
pods of lupine to horses. Whether or
not horses are so poisoned to any
great extent in the state is still open
to question. Many chronic diseases
such as swamp fever, infestation with
the various intestinal worms, in par
the sclerostome worm, and
other diseases resemble the lupin-
so closely that 1t is impossible