you are I’ve heard of Cocaine Bear before, the Georgia black bear who overdosed on cocaine fell from an overloaded smuggler’s Cessna plane. But have you heard of Beer Bear?
In 2004, a curious bear broke into the refrigerator of a camper at Baker Lake Resort in Washington state and somehow made off with about three dozen beers, including Rainier Beer and Busch (which he avoided). While Rainier suffers from a “Poor” rating at BeerAdvocate.com, the bear drank the grain beer until he reached an altered state and sprawled out on the resort lawn to bask in the sun. State Department of Fish and Wildlife officials found the bear there among a pile of punctured empty containers.
Instead of bursting open the cans, the bear apparently shot the beers by slashing them with its claws and aiming Rainier into its mouth. When confronted, the bear climbed a nearby tree and slept for about four hours before escaping. But it returned the next day, so wildlife officials lured it into a humane trap baited with “doughnuts honey, and in this case two open cans of Rainier,” According to NBC News.
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Wildlife and drugs
Experts question whether large animals such as moose and elephants can even get drunk, especially from fermented apples and lettuce, given their large body sizes. But black bears weigh from 90 to 500 pounds, roughly twice the size range of humans. And the clawfoot Rainiers seemed to have an effect.
Stories of animals and even insects seeking out mind-altering substances are legion. In Australia, local officials have a problem with baby wallabies that feed in “poppy fields, fly like a kite and go around in circles”. according to one farmerwho says that wayward sheep would do the same, in an article with BBC.
Domestic cats have been reported to nibble on catnip, and bighorn sheep have been reported to nibble on psychedelic lichen. Young dolphins he may or may not be stoned on pufferfish venom.
Many researchers have served alcohol to honey bees, who will readily drink pure ethanol and have model on human alcoholism. Still, other researchers provided alcohol to vervet monkeys and found that while they drank willingly, the younger members drank more than the old, perhaps to help the latter retain their sanity.
The cocaine bear and the effects
But are these bees and bears having fun? Cocaine Bear most likely died a gruesome death after ingesting a large amount of the sweet-smelling powder, which he may have taken as food.
Kentucky for Kentucky Fun Mall, which owns the Cocaine Teddy Bear, track down the coroner who examined him and he said the bear suffered “cerebral hemorrhage, respiratory failure, hyperthermia, kidney failure, heart failure, stroke. You name it; this bear had it.
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The effects can be devastating and research shows that animals, especially rats, can even become addicted to cocaine. One study found that animals will sometimes refuse food in favor of more of the drug and walking on electrified floors. Another study concluded that cocaine may work in part by activating a stimulatory inflammatory response in the brain.
Ultimately, though, experts don’t know why animals in the wild got drunk or tortured themselves.
Similar confusion surrounds the use of catnip, which can lead to aggressive or erratic behavior in cats. Some wonder if cats choose the experience or are simply “dosed” by their owners.
“If it is unethical to drug a child and laugh at how he or she reacts,” writes one columnist in The Conversation“should we mindlessly do the same to our cats?”