A reader writes:
Dear Guide: An urban legend that I've heard (most recently by a teacher during a discussion in a high school English class) is that you shouldn't throw rice at weddings, because after the party is over, birds will come and eat it. White rice, being as dehydrated as it is, will immediately begin absorbing water upon entering the moist environment of the bird's body. It will then swell up, and if there is enough of it in there, the bird's body (specifically the crop, where the food first goes to be stored) will burst, killing the poor little critter. Is there any truth to it?Dear Reader: No truth to it at all. In fact, wild rice is a dietary staple for many birds, as are other grains that expand in moisture such as wheat and barley. Read more...
Comments
Well, the big problem with white rice is that birds DON’T eat it. It tends to stay on concrete and asphalt surfaces, but is hard and round, so that people tend to slip on it. This is the reason it’s better to throw bird seed (which also crushes underfoot, rather than rolling). And the birds love it!
This reminds of a childhood legend I heard. I grew up on the Texas coast, and we would spend a couple of weeks in Galveston every year. The belief then was that if you fed seagulls (or I guess any bird, but being on the coast, seagulls were plentiful) Alka Seltzer, they would eat it and explode! A friend of mine went with us one year, and being a bit of a problem child, decided to try the myth out. Against my better judgment, he brought along a box of Alka Seltzer. We soon learned two problems with this legend: 1. The birds really didn’t care much for it. 2. When a few did actually take it, and eat it, they did not explode, and as a matter of fact, came back for more! So, like the white rice legend, there is absolutely no truth to the Alka Seltzer legend either.
Dave has never been to a rice field in Arkansas during harvest! Birds don’t eat rice? Are ou kidding me… They FEAST on it!
some people say if you give birds any rice they will blow up!