Elephants: Alcohol and Iboga
Elephants are highly intelligent and socially complex animals. They mourn the death of a family member, feel emotions such as joy and depression, and pass on their knowledge to their young for generations. This means that elephants can learn what gets them high, enjoy it, and teach their young to follow their lead! Elephants have learned that overripe and fermented fruit, such as that from the marula tree, makes them drunk. While the idea of tipsy, swaggering elephants is funny to some, it is causing an increasing alcohol problem among elephants in both India and Africa. Worse, because elephants are quite intelligent, and because of the increasing interaction between our species, they have learned that they can find alcohol where people are. This is dangerous because elephants have a mean drunk! There are reports of groups of elephants literally looting and destroying villages during their drunken frenzy in their constant search for liquor. When talking about drugs, elephants have also developed a taste for the iboga plant, a powerful hallucinogenic. They will eat it to get a pleasant trippy high when they find it and, as the young learn from the old, it becomes a family event.
Bees – Alcohol
The life of a worker bee is not all about roses, is it? And what do they do to blow off some steam? Reach for the booze of course! Researchers have found that bees are naturally drawn to the sweet smells of fermenting fruits and sugars. Laboratory research has also found that bees develop an alcohol addiction when there is a constant supply. The only thing that prevents bees in the wild from developing serious problems is the pressure from the hive to keep feeding the colony and possibly the bouncers. No joke. The bees, whose usual job is to keep unwanted pests, such as wasps, out of the hive, also hold back drunken members of the colony until they sober up. Reports suggest that they even go so far as to gnaw off the legs of repeat offenders; that will certainly teach them a lesson.
Wallabies – Opium
In recent years there have been increasing reports of Australian wallabies plundering medical opium fields. Australia is responsible for supplying 50% of the world’s supply of poppy/opium, which is used to make medicines such as morphine and other painkillers. These willing marsupials have learned that these crops are more than just a food source. Reports describe how the wallabies hold bouts in the poppy fields and spend the rest of the day in the field, making circles in the crops as stoned as a shrimp. Poppy (Papaver somniferum) Seeds (47) View
Horses – Locoweed
Locoweed belongs to a family of weeds that can be found in North America. It is a mind-altering drug that is highly addictive to horses. Unfortunately, the herb is also toxic. It has been reported that, during the more harsh winter months, only locoweed grows, so the horses in the fields do have to eat it. They eat it because of its nutritional value, but soon they are hooked and actively seek it out. Constant consumption of locoweed kills a horse in just a few years, so ranchers need to pay close attention. Detoxifying a horse can also be a very dangerous undertaking. As with humans, withdrawal symptoms can bring out the worst in horses. Most owners keep their horse sedated until it has left their system.
Bears – Mushrooms and jet fuel
While this sounds like an interesting combination, it doesn’t happen at the same time. There are reports of bears eating Amanita muscaria to get high, probably in North America where this mushroom is most commonly found. However, there is very little evidence. There is, however, evidence of bears getting high from jet fuel in Russia. Apparently, bears sniff the empty containers of kerosene and gasoline left behind in the Kronotsky Nature Reserve in eastern Russia. The fuel is used for the helicopters of employees of the reserve and the bears are making eager use of it. It has been reported that they sniff out huge whiffs, dig themselves into a shallow pit and then lie on their backs, arms and legs outstretched in a sedated state.
Dickensian Sheep – Narcotic Lichen
In the rocky wilderness of Canada grows a very unique and rare species of lichen, one that may have psychedelic qualities. Because of its rarity, it is tremendously difficult to find. It has been reported that it takes decades to grow, even on a single rock. However, it seems that this rare species is worth the effort: the bighorn sheep that live in the area risk their lives to get it. Surprisingly, this lichen has absolutely no nutritional value for the sheep, they literally want to get high.
Reindeer – Fly agaric
Reindeer are strong animals that can eat all kinds of vegetation to survive. It turns out that they also love Amanita Muscaria. But reindeer can’t really process the psychedelic components of the mushrooms in their metabolism. This is the same reason that Scandinavian shamans, who used the mushrooms for spiritual visions, fed mushrooms to reindeer and stored the urine for later, psychedelic use. In addition, it seems that the reindeer enjoy the experience; scientists believe that the reindeer seek out the mushrooms on purpose to keep themselves occupied during the long winters.
Cats – Catnip
Catnip, a fairly common herb for the garden, seems to have a rather extraordinary effect on cats. Its scent arouses waves of delight and they will come from afar to sit among it, rubbing, eating and sniffing the flowers and leaves. Initially it has been reported to have a playful effect on them, making them more lively and sometimes seem to chase after imaginary objects. But once the chemicals begin to take effect, it will make them much more sensual. This is because the chemicals in catnip correspond to urine from a male cat marking his territory. Remarkably, catnip has an effect on both sexes and puts them in the mood, while urine from a male cat only has an effect on females. As a result, cats of both sexes lay on their backs writhing while looking high. Catnip – Nepeta cataria (34) View
Capuchin Monkeys and Lemurs – Hallucinogenic Centipedes
Both the lemurs of Madagascar and the Capuchin monkeys of South America have learned about the narcotic psychedelic qualities of certain species of centipedes. Several species of centipedes will secrete a poison if they feel threatened. The monkeys and lemurs have discovered that they can cover themselves with this poison, which will get them high and ward off parasites. But since nothing is free in life, users of centipede poison also end up paying the price: it is full of cyanide. This means that monkeys and lemurs are at high risk of death when they tinker with centipedes, but who will let a little danger stop them?
Jaguars: Ayahuasca (Banisteriopsis Caapi)
Jaguars, like smaller cats, eat green vegetation to induce burps, which they use to cleanse their digestive systems. But it seems that this cat has discovered something that does more than just cleanse the stomach: caapi is to jaguars what catnip is to our Minx, and they can’t get enough of it. They go rolling on the rainforest floor, hallucinating and tripping out of their pans. Banisteriopsis caapi (50 grams) (53) View The Caapi vine acts as an MAOI, heightening the senses and, in larger doses, inducing a psychedelic experience. And indeed, among Ayahuasca explorers, the jaguar is considered a very special animal. It is said that with sufficient skill, a shaman can transform into a jaguar, a highly sought after power.
