ANIMALS WHO ARE DRUNKARDS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 52, 25 November 1907, Page 5

ANIMALS WHO ARE DRUNKARDS.

CURIOUS STORIES. The 'drink problem" in relation to the . lower forms of animal life presents certain' -. aspects that have their analogies in human.... life, ( sometimes tragic, always, saddening, cc- '.. casionally ludicrously amusing. Certain spo- '• cies of..the;tiniest insects arc inordinately ' . fond of intoxicants. These, however, do not become "habitnsils," for the "first offence" is invariably the last. The industrious oce ■a is eiisily tempted from'flowers to-ther-moro : perilous seductions of sugared spirits, and the ' much maligned wasp gets as' "drunk as a., t , lord" on every available.occasion, -and.in .his ; liquor' is a quarrelsome insect Cassio of a very ••■ dangeiMis kind. An excise officer attached to a distillery accidentally discovered, states Mr. 'J. Bewick,'„,';'' I'Mi.Z.S., whose statements, we. reflect in this . ■ article, a means of getting rid of the;-moths., and other insects that pestered him.' He put ■ temptation in their way, and they'"fell from- ' grace." One night ho was making a glass of whisky toddy, and accidentally, spilled some on the table.' In a trice tho insects swarmed on it, wallowed-in it, got dead . drunk, and so perished 1.. Tho life history and economy of the honey bee tribe have been the puzzle and admiration ' of-, naturalists for thousands of years, surpassed only in the case of ants —and from. the. time of Solomon (the first great'naturalist mentioned in history) these have. been deftly appropriated by philosophers and poets to point a moral or adorn--a tale. •--:-. ~ . Bcbs Sadly Prone to Drink. ' •; ' But bees aro sadly prone to fall victims' to' tho "drink habit,' , and if oiice'a bee sips pf: the natural intoxicating' juice 'of certain .' plants,.the "poisoned chalice" commends it-.. solf to' a. disastrous extent, and it dies.an :' irreclaimable drunlfard. Any kind ,of sug- ; ;'v ared spirits exposed on a window-sill on a'"' '. summer's day will lure bees away from '/' flowers', and beastly intoxication follows, oue ' authority reminds us. . . . ' It is the same .with ants; in fact, wjt-li all '■' insects; with all animals, domesticated or , semi-domesticated—with,. of course, tliq exception of animals that drink nothing. -Even f '•'•" among birds, degeneracy in this respect is not unknown.. Mr. Bewick tells us tWt-he ■ knew a pel gander that liad a notorious reputation as a "toper." He had. seen it'.'lip" up. a quart-of stout greedily; and although that kind of liquor was its. favourite, it took-- • beor readily, and |'a hair of the dog that, bit ..-:- him" ih.the morning, inthe shape of whisky .., and.water, was never refused.-. That ; parti- ~,-.; cular goose' lived to a great age. ' ■ '•, '. Hovr ."Jenny,".a: feniale Barbary monkey, . : : fell from the grace of temperance was, writes ■ , Mr. Bowick-i very puzzling. She'-had-' been obtained when little more than a baby by % relative of his , , who was a-strict abstainer^ '■'' r and she was his constant companion in th'e '\™' house; in'tho garden, in his rural' rambles, : - ,: oven on • his iiligling expeditions. But'fall. " slip did, and-in her dodges to ,procure liquor '•"•; displayed abnormal cunning. '"She came to know.every public house for miles around, '' and wandered far and wide, invariably, by a ■• kind of drunken, instinct, peculiar to man, finding her way home oven' when thoroughly ■ intoxicated." Inconsiderate people used to • give this unhappy monkey liquor, and nothing came nmiss, from "fire-water" to beer. She died comparatively ; . ■ • . ; Some dogs "take to drink," tho saddest case of. irreconcilable degeneracy being, that' of a Scottish dcerhound named Juno. Junb ; was a favourite of her master, always ac-" •» compaiiying him to a hotel about 10 p.m.-for, supper. It was probably there that she gra-' . dilated 'as a toper. She certainly became ■• ■ one,; and whisky, she'could swallow' as easily. ':".';■) .as'a, man could ah oyster..' I» time..her ,!' drinkin'g-'feats became tho subject of bets. ".''.,['.- Dogs that take to Drinli. : '

She also had the curious "homing in»\ sliinct.'.' One. fine spring morning- the master- — was trudging home anf espied Juno several'.'/" hundred yards' ahead of hini, evidently very '.. drunk,'-but , ,steering in- tho"right He-followed slowly. -When she got to th'e "'" 1 garden gate she managed to paw open the " gate, and she staggered on to tho lawn and rolled down .under a bush. Nost. day. sho . ,was very ill. and , ho administered a'"nip -, with-a few drops of another kind of poison' , in it. She wagged her tail feebly, looked him kindly in the face—and died.' Among domestic animals the horse is most liable to succumb to tho craving for alcoholio liquor. When . a horse shows ..symptoms of taking" cold, it is quite usual "with somo..' . people to give him a good stiff drink of' whisky in his feed. Tho average , horse swal- ■ lows , the alcoholic mixture with great relish',..- ' but; during the following day'lip' will exhibit,-.- 7 symptom's of fatigue, fever, headache; inifact ,;i all the signs of. the alcoholic.reaction. : llr. Bewick was acquainted with a hand- ■■ sptne bay hunter, who, having received 'd05e5'....... . of whisky.-three days iu-succer-sion, refused '. after that to eat .pi\work'until at least a pint of liquor had been poured out for him. -As - ''.' his: owner, was very fond of riding him, h<? . humoured ~ this , depraved taste. When tli? '' liprao was intoxicated ho-rodcesplondidiy; bui his progress on tho downward path was rapid. At,tho end.of two years the aninial died, s '■■ hopeless case of alcoholism.—"Science. Sift ings. ,: ' . . '..-.. . - - ,