RE: animals eating iris

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I read that iris were not palatable, or were actively toxic, to mammals.

I saw Iris douglasiana growing in huge clumps in pastures in
Oregon, because the cows wouldn't eat them.

Deer do not eat any of my iris.

However, someone with many different kinds of iris growing on a near-
by island with feral sheep reports that the sheep eat the leaves,
particularly in the spring.

I used to toss extra bearded iris in my goat pen and the goats would
eat the leaves.

So is it just some animals that won't eat iris, and is it a
preference, or are iris actually poisonous?

Diane Whitehead
Victoria B.C., Canada