I think that red light is the end of the tunnel. or the train. Either way it'll be a fun ride!
On cherry and rattles.. The poisonous compound is hydrogen cyanide which is indeed bad juju in any measurable amount.
Cherry bark is also bad, I peal any cherry wood I use for smoking wood (although I admit its likely overkill, I also find that it makes a smoother smoke because the cyanide compounds and some of the pre-cursors are bitter in even small quantities). The wilted but not yet dry leaves are actually the worst, completely dry isn't quite as bad oddly enough (still wouldn't feed them to a cow mind you but a freshly broken off branch is about the worst). This is true of most of the prunous family to a greater or lesser extent (apricots, peaches, plums, etc...). Apple and pear seeds have de-minimus amounts (i.e. you'd need to eat pounds of them for most people to have a problem).
Interestingly red maple leaves are also quite bad for livestock, although the toxin is a different form (probably gallic acid but not sure - it shuts down the red blood cells somehow anyway).
I'd have a hard time imagining there is enough cyanide in the wood of cherry that it would be much of a problem (wouldn't use the bark.. but that wouldn't work well anyway), although I suppose anything is possible and given that there are lots of alternatives I guess why chance it.. I've actually used peach pits for making some "almond" flavorings because they have a bit more "bite" largely because of the higher cyanide levels .. safe enough in small doses
For a rattle or similar there are a couple of features I'd look for. Non toxic (obviously
), doesn't splinter at all, non porous (because porous wood has more places to hold ick from mouth->floor->mouth->floor.. although thats undoubtedly good for the immune system
).
- Poplar or cotton wood would be pretty good, its a bit soft but mostly just gets fuzzy when chewed on. The fuzzy might be a bit of an issue on the ick factor.
- Pear or Apple seem like good choices as they have tight interlocking grain and aren't toxic in any measurable way. I think either of these would be my first choice if you could get them.
- Hard maple should be good, although its not quite as splinter free as apple or pear, its still relatively tight grained and should hold up pretty well. Also probably the easiest to get commercially.