How many animals like to get high?

Question

i know cats eat catnip for mind altering effects, birds and other animals will eat fermented fruit and raindeer are often said to consume hallucinogenic mushrooms.

what other animals like to alter their consciousness?

and do you think that a specific section of the animal population wishes to do so? do you think there are rules in the animal society that regulate such behaviour?

thanks

Answer 1

Many animal would get high if they drink like alcohol, monkey is probably likes to get high the most.

Answer 2

Every animal likes to get high!!! Have you ever sat in the woods and smoked a joint? It's like a frickin disney movie. They all come out and start sniffin around. It's funny.

Answer 3

elephants go made for fermenting fruit like rotten apples .they get very drunk and sometimes cause a nuisance by rampaging thru the village and smashing every thing      [ in India ]

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Answer 4

I read a book by a neurological researcher about 6 years ago, and he addressed animals and drugs which alter consciousness.

Most animals which are tested in labs will choose to get high rather than eat, and would, in fact, kill themselves by starvation if the option were given to them. Two classes of drugs which have been tested extensively are "uppers" and "downers", including cocaine and amphetamines, as well as morphine and other opiates. In trials with both monkeys and apes, they found that after just one or two doses, the animals began to choose the drug over food when presented with a choice. For cocaine, in the ape family, the animal generally chose cocaine over food after trying it just once. Since their brains are so closely related to human brains, the researchers concluded that the animals were not yet addicted, and simply chose the drug because they liked the way it made them feel. Naturally, after a time, addiction does set in, and it becomes a no brainer--the animal, if addicted, is just like a junkie and will choose their drug over food every time. He said that they set up trials where the animal simply has to select a switch, and will either get the drug or some food, depending on which switch it has chosen. The animals are smart enough to learn very quickly which switch gives which reward, and they will invariably choose the drug. (Rodents are exactly the same way, by the way.) Another type of test involves letting them choose their switch, but having the outcome be random. Monkeys and apes will actually spit their food out and hit the switch repeatedly until they get the drug, so you know it's the drug they are after.

The problem they've run into with their research is that they don't know WHY animals choose to get high. They cannot be sure it's for the same reason as a human's desire for an altered state of consciousness. For example, when mammals eat fermented fruit, they aren't sure if they are eating it because it makes them feel drunk, or because it has more natural sugar and is a denser nutrient. The fact is that the lab experiences are limited to animals which can easily be kept in a lab and tested. That limits an awful lot of the animal kingdom. They can test monkeys, some apes, and smaller animals like dogs, cats, and rodents, but they don't usually do that kind of testing on horses, or lions, or larger animals.

Additionally, some animals can have brain scans while they are under the effects of drugs, but some cannot. They have developed methods for doing PET scans, which show heightened areas of activity in the brain, on some animals, but not others. Researchers know a lot about the brain of a chimpanzee, because it's so much like a human brain, and is often studied to help reach a greater understanding of how the human brain works. While the brain of a bird is smaller, they don't understand it as well, because there hasn't been much research done because it doesn't help in the understanding of the human brain.

If I had to say which specific section of the animal population is most likely to do so, I would say mammals. That's just because most of the testing which has been done has shown that mammals are the ones doing it already. Additionally, mammal brains are better understood than any other kind of animal brain, because all brain research is essentially an extension of studying the human brain, and we're mammals.

There are two examples I know of where animals in the wild select mind altering substances, and in both cases the behavior is regulated. I have been told by two people, one who works for the national park service, and one who works for my state's department of wildlife resources, that deer in the wild will get into pot patches and eat the plants. People who plant pot out in the wilderness have to watch out for deer, but the deer will only eat the plants at a certain time of the year, and does will not eat if they have fawns with them. Since I have never seen that addressed in research, I don't know if they even get high off the plants, and I don't know if there's a solid reason for them not doing it when they have their young with them. Whatever the facts, it would seem to be some sort of self regulation, since does are often alone after they give birth.

The other example is a kind of leaf which grows in Africa, and which has mild hallucinogenic properties. Gorillas will chew the leaves when they find the plants. Males, especially, like to sit and chew the leaves and watch the rest of the troop. However, the troop leader, the head male, does not indulge as much as younger males, and researchers believe it's because he wants to stay alert so he can protect his troop if there's a problem. Females also chew the leaves, but not as much, and if they are either close to delivering a baby, or still nursing, the males will chase them away from the plants. The problem is that researchers have been unable to determine if the males are stopping the females out of concern for the young, or if they don't want to share the leaves. My honest guess, from what I have read, is that the males don't want to share the leaves. Female gorillas who don't have infants to tend will tend those of other females, so it would seem like a female could just give her infant to a "babysitter" while she gets high, but then again, the males only chase the females away when they are either pregnant or nursing. Who knows what they are thinking. It would seem to be something which is regulated by the troop, however, instead of the individual animal.

That's a very thought provoking question. Thanks.

Answer 5

It's probably due to human influence or because of the rising water levels, that push animals to take this mind altering drugs.

Answer 6

well my dog likes me to smoke her out on occasion and she drinks beer.

Answer 7

haha we do (if you consider us animals) after all we are mammels.

Answer 8

I think the animals get high but they don't realise it. I would say the only one that likes to get high is a human, but even then, if the humans who take drugs actually were smart enough, they would realise it. So basically I don't think any animals like to get high or even realise that they're high.

Answer 9

I read somewhere that almost every animal on earth had ways to get themselves high.  Some monkeys eat poisonous bugs and catch a buzz from it, deer will eat tobacco and pot to get high.  If you let a mouse steal a cigarette it'll eat it and get high and then keep coming back for more.  All animals enjoy a good buzz now and then to get away from the doldrums of life

Answer 10

just one  the  human animal