Can all animals get drunk? If not, what enables this in those that can?
Mark Thompson
Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, UK
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Yes, and they frequently do! Deer, squirrels and bears have been known to appear drunk when eating fermented fruit. As with humans, this is actually ethanol poisoning. And some insects seek out alcohol.
The pen-tailed tree shrew eats nectar from the flowers of the bertam palm, which has one of the highest alcohol levels recorded in natural food – close to 4 per cent. However, these shrews can really hold their own: despite boozing nightly on the high-alcohol nectar, they display no effects of intoxication.
Studies have also shown that many bats are fine to fly after eating fermented fruits and nectar. For example, and echolocation skills were unaffected by the consumption of ethanol. But it is best leave the drinking and flying to them. You’d be bats to give it a go!
John Elliott
Stockport, Greater Manchester, UK
I clearly remember a charming moment in my garden when I found a hedgehog that had just feasted on a rotting apple. It was very still, oblivious to my presence, and evidently very happy. I don’t remember how long it stayed, but after a good rest it wandered off to resume its chores.
Simon Dales
Oxford, UK
Any animal can get drunk. How well they can hold their drink is dependent on what they habitually eat.
Lions should lose any drinking game because antelope contain little alcohol. But Drosophila melanogaster (the fruit fly that is the beloved plaything of geneticists) is evolved to eat rotten fruit. Lab ones have gene variants. One is lush, that makes it seek alcohol, and one with reduced resistance is called cheapdate.
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