Animals in the wild are getting drunk more than we thought.
Have you ever been looking out the window at your backyard and you noticed some robins hopping around doing goofy stuff. You know, bumping into things and tipping over. What's going on there? When I saw this kind of behavior, I asked around and I was told that the birds were getting into old fruit that had fallen out of a cherry tree or an apple tree and as it was sitting on the ground, the fruit was fermenting. Then the birds started eating this fermented fruit and got drunk.
For years, biologists and naturalists were of the opinion that this was a rare occurrence and didn't happen that often but now that opinion is changing.
According to Gizmodo.com,
‘In a paper published Wednesday, biology and wildlife researchers argue that alcohol consumption in the animal kingdom is probably a lot more common than is currently assumed. But there’s still a lot we don’t know about it, including whether any animals are actively seeking a buzz.’
Since you're average, Homeo Sapien knows that consuming alcohol can give you a buzz. It would seem logical to me that chimps and gorillas also would be able to put two and two together and occasionally want a nightcap of a well fermented mango. (Do bananas ferment?)
I can remember our family dog really liked drinking beer, but dad put a stop to it because he didn't want to share his beer. (Hey, we worked hard for that beer.)
(And it’s not good for the dog.)
Animals Are Consuming More Alcohol Than We Realized
Minnesota Residents Call Police On Rowdy Drunk Birds : NPR
The evolutionary ecology of ethanol: Trends in Ecology & Evolution
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