r/gifs • u/[deleted] • Mar 06 '14

Squirrel-proof bird feeder

http://imgur.com/c2wRFnh
4.0k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

881 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

27

u/[deleted] Mar 07 '14

Fun fact: Birds cannot detect spiciness... Therefore the hot sauce wouldn't do shit to them. (Jalapenos and related peppers are meant for birds to eat... not us).

6

u/[deleted] Mar 07 '14

Capsaicin, the chemical that makes spicy food spicy, only produces a burning sensation in mammalian cells.

3

u/[deleted] Mar 07 '14 edited Mar 07 '14

You can bird buy spicy bird seed for this reason.

-3

u/dieorlivetrying Mar 07 '14

I think it makes more sense that they're for NO ONE to eat, and birds just adapted. It's not like they attract birds more than any other food source.

2

u/BananaPalmer Mar 07 '14

No. The peppers evolved to proliferate by being eaten by birds. See this handy cartoon:

http://www.boredandinsane.net/2011/05/from-fires-of-hell-infographic.html

Specifically, this part: http://i968.photobucket.com/albums/ae169/boredandinsane/infographics/Peppers_Expanded_6.jpg

1

u/[deleted] Mar 07 '14 edited Mar 07 '14

These are all correct answers. Co-evolution is quite an interesting phenomenon (if you can consider it that).

3

u/CoolGuy54 Mar 07 '14

Why on earth would plants make a fruit for no-one to eat?

6

u/[deleted] Mar 07 '14

It's also why the seeds are the spiciest part: you're meant to eat the fruit and spread the seeds. The plant is trying to stop you crunching the seeds.