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Slideshow
Top 10 animal and alcohol stories
Animals and alcohol have always had a strange relationship and we have rounded up the top 10 animal and alcohol stories out there.
There are stories of animals becoming drunk because of alcohol, some animals enjoying a glass of wine or others being given wine to ward off the flu.
A classic animal alcohol story was reported by the BBC after a drunken elk got stuck in an apple tree.
The animal was apparently on the hunt for fermenting apples when she lost her balance and became trapped in the tree.
Emergency services, helped free the boozed-up beast by sawing off branches. The next day the animal took itself off into the woods with a hangover.
It is not unusual to see elks drunk in Sweden during autumn, when there are plenty of apples about.
Read on to find out more animal and alcohol stories.
If we have missed any let us know – info@thedrinksbusiness.com
10. Asian three-lizard wine
It is an old one but a good one.
This is still firmly rooted in the Far East. Simply drown three lizards, preferably geckos, in a vat of rice wine, add a little ginseng and leave to infuse.
The liquor is commonly made in Chinese and Vietnamese villages.
9. Pomeranian “four times the legal limit”
A man was arrested for getting his dog drunk on vodka, at a bar in the US earlier this year.
Todd Harold Schrier appeared in court on an animal cruelty charge after police in East Helena, Montana discovered that the Pomeranian dog was drunk, and falling over while trying to stand up.
The 20-pound dog, named Arly II, was not able to walk in a straight line when police found the animal at Smith’s Bar. The animal was four times over the legal human drink-driving limit.
At the bar, a patron there told authorities that Schrier gave the dog vodka, according to a police report.
Officers said they later found Schrier at a local Veterans of Foreign Wars building. The dog was taken to Alpine Animal Clinic where a blood test revealed that its blood-alcohol level was 0.348 per cent.
8. Vietnamese village selling snake wine online
Asiansnakewine.com uses venomous cobra snakes and scorpions to make the transparent rice wine in a “snake village” in Vietnam.
Luckily the deadly poison in the snakes and scorpions dissolves in the wine. The website assures its customers that the animals are no longer dangerous, as their venom is protein-based and therefore “inactivated by the denaturing effects of ethanol”.
Herbs are added in with the creatures before the wine is left to ferment for several months.
The site is keen to point out that the drink is not merely a novelty gift, but also has numerous health benefits, which include treating back pain, rheumatism, lumbago and other health conditions. The rice liquors are also considered to be a strong natural aphrodisiac.
7. Dead animal bottles cause concern
A beer served in bottles made from stuffed animals has been criticised as “perverse” and “pushing the boundaries of acceptability”.
The End of History, made by BrewDog of Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, has 55% alcohol content and costs £500 a bottle. The bottles have been made using seven dead stoats, four squirrels and a hare, said to be roadkill.
However, Advocates for Animals and Alcohol Focus Scotland both condemned the marketing.
BrewDog claims the beer is the world’s strongest and most expensive.
Its co-founder James Watt said: “We want to show people there is an alternative to monolithic corporate beers, introduce them to a completely new approach to beer and elevate the status of beer in our culture.”
BrewDog also pushed the boundaries of good taste by launching a beer served through a taxidermy bar tap.
6. db appoints chief wine taster
Bow Jones, MW and Sommelier at The Fat Cat – Heston Blumenthal’s chief rival restaurant.
Bow is currently in the process of applying for a role as Robert Parker’s junior replacement.
5. Drunk tourists fined for stealing penguin
Two British tourists in Australia went on a vodka binge before stealing a penguin, swimming with dolphins and letting off a fire extinguisher in a shark enclosure.
A former British Royal Marine and his friend have admitted breaking into Sea World on the Gold Coast of Australia after getting drunk at a beach party last month.
The Welshmen, who were on working holidays in Australia, drank 1.5 litres of vodka between them before deciding to go to the popular theme park.
Rhys Owen Jones, formerly of the Royal Marines, and bricklayer Keri Mules pleaded guilty in Southport Magistrates Court on Wednesday of trespassing, stealing and keeping a protected animal.
Lawyer Bill Potts told the court his clients meant no harm to the fairy penguin they stole called Dirk.
4. Monkeys given wine “to ward off flu”
A zoo in central Kazakhstan, where overnight temperatures can dip to -40C, is giving monkeys a wine concoction as a remedy against flu.
Karaganda Zoo chief animal specialist Svetlana Pilyuk told local media it was not a matter of making the animals drunk but of “relaxing” them.
The red wine is diluted with hot water and mixed with sugar and fruit.
Ms Pilyuk said it was “normal practice” in zoos but London Zoo told the BBC this was “absolutely not” the case.
Karaganda is one of the oldest zoos in Kazakhstan, an ex-Soviet republic with extreme winters.
Despite the current freezing weather, the temperature in the monkey enclosure is kept at 27C, Ms Pilyuk said.
3. Cows fed red wine
A number of farmers in the Languedoc have taken to feeding their cattle local red wine to improve the flavour of their beef.
According to The Independent, local farmer Claude Chaballier has been feeding his cattle wine from the village of Saint-Geniès-des-Mourgues, resulting in “lean, marbled and tasty,” beef.
Chaballier fed the wine to three of his cows last year in a trial run, and is set to repeat the experiment next month.
Two Angus cattle and one Camargue cow were fed a mixture of leftover grapes, barley and hay before two litres of wine were integrated into their diet.
2. New “Beer” for dogs
Bowser Beer a new brew for dogs has been created.
This dog-friendly beer is non-alcoholic with eschewing hops, which are toxic to dogs, taken out. Bowser Beer is a non-carbonated mixture of meat-broth and malt barley, with glucosamine added for joint health.
Made in America, batches of the beer has been shipped around the States and a special edition selling in the pet section of London’s Harrods department store.
It now comes in a chicken-flavored variety, Cock-a-Doodle-Brew.
1. Sex-deprived fruit flies turn to alcohol
After being deprived of sex, male fruit flies, known as Drosophila melanogaster may turn to alcohol to fulfill a physiological demand for a reward, according to a study recently published in the journal Science.
In the study, male fruit flies that had mated repeatedly for several days showed no preference for alcohol-spiked food.
On the other hand, spurned males and those denied access to females strongly preferred food mixed with 15% alcohol.
The researchers believed the alcohol may have satisfied the flies’ desire for physical reward.