Magic Mushroom Meal Was No Laughing Matter

Illawarra Mercury

Thursday June 8, 2006

By MICHELE TYDD

THESE two young kookaburras took the term "flying high" to a new level after tucking into a magic mushroom last weekend.

The pair of baby kookas were seen eating the toxic mushroom in a grassy area south of Wollongong on Sunday.

"They took off when I approached and a few seconds later they dropped like stones," a witness said.

"They just went straight into a deep sleep ... they looked so peaceful I thought they were dead."

When one twitched, the good Samaritan whipped them off to WIRES carer Sylvia Bryce at Dapto.

"I've been a carer for five years and I've never seen an animal or bird suffering the effects of a magic mushroom," Mrs Bryce said.

"I phoned vet Col Pinney at Warrawong who said there was no antidote and to just watch them and keep them warm.

"One woke up that night and the other slept through until the next morning.

"They are still a bit dozey and unsteady on their feet but they seem like they are recovering."

Mr Pinney said the incident was bizarre.

"Normally juveniles like this would reject something they recognised as food their parents wouldn't give them," he said.

"It may have been a small insect on or near the mushroom, or simply their youthful curiosity.

'It's more likely to be a dog who becomes a victim of these things because they are scavengers."

Magic mushrooms' toxicity varied, he said.

"These guys, from the sound of things, became depressed or subdued, and thankfully just slept.

"They could have started fitting or gone into a coma, and that would have been the end."