The use of hallucinogenic substances for recreational purposes is not exclusive to human beings. There are numerous reports of animals who like to get high, and in some cases this may even have a cultural context.
This type of situation caught attention on social media recently, when a bear decided to eat hallucinogenic honey in Turkey. Do you want to know this and other cases — some quite unusual — of animals that got high in nature? Below we list four times when this has happened.
1. The Bear and the “Crazy Honey”
Starting with the case of the bear. Baptized Balkiz, the young woman invaded a farm that produces deli bal, the “crazy honey” that is made from the rhododendron flower. In large amounts, this honey can have hallucinogenic effects, and that’s when the bear experienced the most mind-blowing journey of her life.
After ingesting the honey, Balkiz became disoriented. The bear cub was recorded in the bed of a pickup truck, rocking and whimpering. She was taken to a vet, who performed tests to ensure that everything was ok with the animal. A few days later she was released into a forest again.
2. Pass the pufferfish
One of the most interesting cases happens with dolphins that use toxins present in puffer fish to enter a trance state. The most curious thing here is that the dolphins share the fish. After one of them gently squeezes the puffer fish with his mouth, he hands the fish to a nearby dolphin. This indicates that this behavior has a cultural factor among these aquatic mammals.
In addition, dolphins demonstrate that they know how to use the puffer fish in order to cause the desired effect. In large amounts, the toxin released by the pufferfish is fatal. In a documentary made for the BBC, zoologist Robert Pilley commented that after the entire group used the puffer fish, the dolphins showed a peculiar behavior, swimming with their snouts outside the surface.
3. Mushroom “Tea”
Psychedelic mushrooms are used by different communities for different purposes. But it’s not just humans who use fungi to get high. Moose and caribou are known to forage in the snow for mushrooms which in certain concentrations can cause hallucinations.
The caribou that are under the influence of these mushrooms tend to separate from their herds, which can be costly. As they are in a vulnerable state, their intoxication makes it easier for predators to attack.
The urine of these animals is also of interest to humans. In Siberia, Scandinavia and other regions where caribou are common, people use the urine of animals that have consumed the mushrooms. After passing through the caribou system, the psychoactive agents of the fungi are more potent than the more powerful effect of the mushrooms.
4. The Opium Leap
The poppy is a plant widely used in the world for the production of morphine and other analgesics. It is from its fruit that opium is extracted, which in addition to the analgesic effect, can also be used as a drug.
In Australia — which produces about 50% of the world’s legal opium — kangaroos are sometimes seen on poppy farms and feeding on the poppy fruit. In 2009, the Tasmanian Attorney General, Laura Giddings, reported that kangaroos are causing major problems for the safety of plantations.
The most curious thing is that after consuming the poppy, the animals were seen walking in circles around the farm, completely disoriented. In addition, as opium is addictive, there are reports of kangaroos returning to the fields to feed again.
