THESE ANIMALS ARE TRIPPING FOR FUN
Did you know that there are several animals that like to get high? And you don't even have to look far... These animals are tripping for fun!
Your own pet: high through catnip
If you have a cat, you've probably given it catnip or catnip. And that makes cats go pretty crazy! They roll around on the ground and can even get stoned from it. This is because catnip contains the substance nepetalactone, which mimics the effect of pheromones. By the way, want to get high with your pooch? Then try our Catmint: catnip for humans. That gives us humans a similar high as your favo animal housemate will experience.
Big cats: tripping on Ayahuasca
In the Amazon jungle, jaguars roam among the many species of animals, and they have their own drug of choice... Banisteriopsis caapi is the official name, yagé for short. This is the DMT-containing tree bark from which Ayahuasca is also made. Want to know what that looks like? Check out this video of this predator getting high on caapi.
Bats: drunken flies
Ever wondered why bats sometimes fly so manically in circles? Maybe they are just drunk. This is because bats like to eat fruit and nectar, and fermented fruit is regularly among them. Fermentation involves yeasts and bacteria converting the sugars in fruit into alcohol. And so bats sometimes ingest quite a lot of alcohol, which makes them drunk. Several studies show that this sometimes makes them worse at flying, but other studies seem to show that even drunk, they still manage fine in the air.
Drunk monkeys, elephants and bees
Some monkey populations also get drunk from eating fermented fruits. But monkeys are smart critters, and of course they are quite similar to us humans. And so it came about that in the Caribbean, among other places, there are monkeys walking around with a drinking problem. Researchers found out that 17% of the population of 200 wild monkeys were recreational drinkers. A small number of them even developed blackouts and withdrawal symptoms and could be called alcoholics.
Monkeys are not the only animals that get high on alcohol and struggle with problematic use. Elephants too feast on fermented fruit and become tipsy. And sometimes they even seem to have an evil drunkenness, which is quite annoying if such an animal is walking around your village.
Bees are also fond of nectar, of course, and they too can get inebriated from this when it contains alcohol. Researchers were curious to see if bees had any other interesting preferences, and exposed them to nectar with other tasty substances. What turned out: they preferred nectar with caffeine and that with nicotine. We get it, because that too gives a nice buzz
Elephants and iboga
Iboga is a psychedelic drug that can make you trip pretty hard. Especially in Central Africa, people use it in traditional rituals. Young and old alike are given this drink. But elephants have also discovered iboga. Apparently, they also like a trip at times. And even with elephants, the whole family joins in.
Drug testing on animals: forced high
Animals have been used to test drugs and medicines on for many years. Psychedelics such as LSD have also been administered to monkeys, cats and even elephants and dolphins. No animal is safe from the human researcher. For example, take a look at this NASA study on the effects of various drugs on -yes- spiders! Specifically, they looked at how the web-building qualities of the most striking is that they did a lot better on weed than on caffeine. So feel free to let your house spiders enjoy that jonko you slap in your living room with you.
