6th September 2020
Seagulls can get drunk. Most summers millions of male and female ants sprout wings, fly around to find a mate and are feasted upon by seagulls. The ants contain formic acid which can cause the seagulls to lose their inhibitions resulting in erratic behaviour as if they are inebriated.
Other animals and insects can also get ‘drunk’. In Darwin, Australia parrots are seen to be intoxicated or very sick from after they have eaten fruit that has fermented in the hot weather. In Tasmania they found that when food was scarce, Wallabies would enter the (legal) poppy fields (from which Opium is developed) and eat the heads of the plants and end up getting high. Reindeer in Eastern Europe have been known to fight over hallucinogenic mushrooms (called Amanita) which are toxic to humans. Bats in South America also like fermented fruits but apparently can fly just as well as when sober even with blood alcohol levels above our legal limits.
The Argos catalogue has finished its last run. I feel a little reminiscent. For those that don’t know Argos the retailer, I would describe it as a hide-away of all-sorts where a young one’s desires can be made real. As a child I loved flicking through the catalogue and gazing adoringly at all the fabulous toys I hoped I would be bought. Even now, cost centre 3 will take her biro and paper and spend a few hours poring over the pages detailing the gifts she is expecting for her special occasions. Bill Bailey the comedian called the catalogue ‘The laminated book of dreams’ and some one was inspired to create a podcast on her fascination with the catalogue (which I quite enjoyed!) It was first printed in 1972 with at its peak 10m copies printed of one run. One twitter user wrote that its structure from ‘garden furniture to watches to furniture to electronics to toys, represented (sic) a descent from old age to childhood’.
Curiosity and the rascal 