What Kind of Animals Eat Whistling Thorns?

The Whistling Thorn

• The whistling thorn gets its name from the whistling noise the tree makes when the wind blows through the dead bulbs in the tree. These bulbs are hollow, and have small holes that ants have chewed into them. These holes are what create the whistling noise in the wind. The whistling thorn tree stands tall at about 18 feet and grows in various parts of Africa. This tree has large bulbs growing along the tree branches that have thorns reaching up to 3 inches in length. The whistling thorn has a sweet taste that animals love to eat.

Ants

• Ant colonies play a major role in the life of the whistling thorn by helping to preserve their lifespan. They are also among the top feeders of the whistling thorn tree, eating the sweet nectar that is produced at the ends of the leaves. Many ant species enjoy this tree so much that they live on them. Ant colonies live inside the large thorny bulbs of the tree, and are known to go into fight mode when another animal comes along to feed off the tree, regardless of the type or size of the animal in question.

Elephants

• Elephants are quite fond of the thorn tree's sweet nectar as well. When an elephant finds a whistling thorn tree to feed from, it has to be leery of whether that particular tree is home to a colony of ants. The ants living in the tree will crawl up the elephant's trunk and bite the inside of its nostrils to protect their territory; this results in painful stings along the elephant's trunk. Although the elephant will try to avoid trees that have these ants inside them, the elephants take their chances for this delicious treat.

Giraffes and Antelopes

• Two other animals that also enjoy the taste of the whistling thorn tree are the giraffe and antelope. Giraffes and antelopes will opt to eat the leaves of the tree over the grass they typically graze. These two animals are able to quickly swipe the leaves off these trees with their long tongues. Because they have such control of their tongues, they are not bothered by the overprotective ants living in the whistling thorn. When they encounter these predators, they simply push them aside with their tongues and continue to feed on the leaves, unharmed.