tangential: animals altering consciousness

[Michael Bailey]

No need to give your dog LSD:

http://www.powells.com/biblio/61-9780892819867-0

>From caffeine-dependent goats to nectar addicted ants, the animal
kingdom offers amazing examples of wild animals and insects
seeking out and consuming the psychoactive substances in their
environments. Author Giorgio Samorini explores this little-known
phenomenon and suggests that, far from being confined to humans, the
desire to experience altered states of consciousness is
a natural drive shared by all living beings and that animals engage in
these behaviors deliberately. Rejecting the Western cultural
assumption that using drugs is a negative action or the result of an
illness, Samorini opens our eyes to the possibility that beings who
consume psychedelics--whether humans or animals--contribute to the
evolution of their species by creating entirely new patterns
of behavior that eventually will be adopted by other members of that
species. The author's fascinating accounts of mushroom-loving
reindeer, intoxicated birds, and drunken elephants ensure that readers
will never view the animal world in quite the same way again.





-- 
--- "Can't say it often enough -
change your hair, change your life."
- Sortilege