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Can all animals get drunk? If not, what enables this in those that can?

Mark Thompson
Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, UK

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…