What Can Eat an Ilex Verticillata?

Birds

• Birds love the berries of Ilex verticillata. In fact, the plant makes an excellent natural bird feeder during the lean fall and winter months -- so much so that it is recommended for bird gardens, according to the Missouri Botanical Garden's website. Birds known to love the berries include the hermit thrush, northern mockingbird, brown thrasher, gray catbeard and cedar waxwing, the latter of which also nests in the plant's branches.

Deer

• Deer are known for munching on garden plants and often decimate gardens. It can be hard to keep them out of a garden area, but a hedge made of Ilex verticillata plants might be just the thing to distract any deer wandering into your yard. They love the red berries and will snack on the twigs as well. If you don't want deer to eat your holly plants, protect them with a tall fence. Barrier methods are the best way to keep deer from eating your plants, according to the University of California's Integrated Pest Management website, but make sure your fence is 7 to 8 feet tall: Deer can jump over a 6-foot fence if they feel threatened.

Insects

• Sap-sucking insects are not attracted to the berries like birds and deer. They prefer the plant's leaves and wood. Insects such as bud moths, scales, mites and leaf miners attach themselves to the plant and suck the sap from either the leaves or the wood. These pests are usually not a serious threat to the health of the plant, according to the Ohio State University Extension website. A single application of insecticidal soap is usually sufficient to treat and prevent these insect infestations.

Warning

• Although birds, deer and insects can enjoy the fruit of winterberry holly, humans should not consume the berries or leaves. They are slightly toxic to humans, horses, dogs and cats, according to the University of Rhode Island Landscape Horticulture Program website and the ASPCA website. The plants, and the berries in particular, contain an alkaloid called theobromine. It is very similar to caffeine and may cause symptoms such as nausea, digestive problems, low blood pressure and dizziness in humans if ingested in large quantities. In animals, the alkaloid causes depressed behavior, diarrhea and vomiting.