Drunken Parrot Season Starts in Australia

bazzalunatic writes "Each wet season in northern Australia dozens of colorful lorikeets have to be rescued because they appear drunk, fall out of trees and even get a hangover-like sickness. No one knows quite what's going on, but the best explanation is they get smashed from fermented fruit. From the story: 'Experts say they are not sure if the lorikeets are actually drunk, but they do have tell-tale symptoms. "They exhibit odd behavior like falling over or difficulty flying [and] they keep running into things," says Darwin vet Dr Stephen Cutter from The Ark Animal Hospital.'"

Comments

Seems plausible

[Abstrackt]

I also fall over, have difficulty flying and run into things when drunk.

Re:Seems plausible

[ColdWetDog]

I also fall over, have difficulty flying and run into things when drunk.

How about when you're sober. Can you fly then?

Re:Seems plausible

[Abstrackt]

How about when you're sober. Can you fly then?

No, I find it equally difficult. Being drunk just makes it seem like a much better idea to try.

Re:Seems plausible

[dkleinsc]

As Dean Martin explained: "You're not drunk if you can lie on the floor without holding on."

Re:Seems plausible

[Heed00]

You have to throw yourself at the ground and miss. That's the trick.

So a parrot flies into a bar...

[Moheeheeko]

...a loud clang and laughter ensue.

I know what this is

[blair1q]

The aborigines are messing around with parrot jammers.

To hell with the lorikeets

[GodfatherofSoul]

Let's find these magic trees where the party is obviously at.

obviously it is...

[atarione]

parrot spring break?

sweeeeeet so i looked an my joke actually makes sense cause it is fucking spring time in Australia right about now...OH HOW MUCH DO I OWN???

Re:Why Do Anything?

[operagost]

I'm sure AGW is at fault, so no.

my mistake

[rish87]

don't make the mistake I did and underestimate these little guys. They drank me under the table and I woke up the next day with black marker cloacas all over my face.

Re:Why Do Anything?

[Andy Dodd]

Because according to some articles, something is changing the nature of the event - it used to be that only a handful of birds were affected each season, the numbers are now increasing significantly with each season.

How is this hard to determine

[Riceballsan]

Couldn't a simple blood test/tox screen tell scientists quickly if it is alcohol or some other source? Basically scientists are saying "they act drunk, we don't know for certain why". They could be eating piles of rotted fruit, or a naturally occoring berry, or poisonous insects or fumes from machinery. They could be doing it intentionally or accidentally. Bottom line is, if you are going to go to the trouble of posting a study... shouldn't some research and diagnostics be done if it is worth caring about?

Re:How is this hard to determine

[rubycodez]

scientist with breathalizer: "ok pal, breath into the machine !"

parrot: "fuck you, pig!"

Re:How is this hard to determine

[Nqdiddles]

I find it surprising that the experts are saying they don't know what causes it, seeing as I knew when I was all of 10 years old - I used to watch it happen in our back yard. We had mango trees. The fruit would fall to the ground (usually knocked off by fruit bats), it would sit in the sun and ferment (and smell), and the birds would come and pick at it. What followed was always hilarious to watch - very loud birds acting very drunk, and usually unable to fly - they'd run around on the ground randomly flapping wings without getting off the ground. And they'd fall over, run into things and generally seem to be engaging in very obnoxious behavior. Much the same as my Alexandrian parrot would later do when my girlfriend let it drink apply cider.

Some birds...

[Oswald McWeany]

For some of the birds the drunkeness makes them angry and so they catapault themselves at pigs.