Sometimes we all just need to let loose.
That even includes
Instead of heading down to their local watering hole for a
casual after-work beverage,
they chomp down on millipedes.
After consuming some toxin,
the lemurs appear chilled out and relaxed.
But there is a reason they do this.
One of the chemicals on the skin of the millipede
is benzoquinone.
It gets the lemurs high,
but also helps keep bugs off them.
Like an insecticide.
The lemurs lick a millipede
and then transfer the toxin onto their fur.
And once finished, they let the millipede go
to fight another day.
Who knows if the lemurs are doing this
to intentionally get a buzz on
or to get some good bug repellent.
Or maybe it's both?
Think that's weird?
These animals have some of the wildest ways to party.
From magic mushrooms
to puff, puff, passing a pufferfish.
Think you can keep up?
Christmas always comes early for these reindeer.
We don't know whether or not reindeer get high
from eating this special kind of mushroom.
What we do know is they are definitely hallucinogenic.
But they do like eating them.
They even dig through snow to find them.
The mushroom is called Amanita muscaria
and has been used in indigenous ceremonies
that coincide with the winter solstice and Christmas.
So maybe there is a link to how Santa could
fly around the world in a single night.
His reindeer were on one hell of a trip.
You've probably seen how cats react to catnip.
Like it's the best thing in the world.
Well, jaguars have their own version of catnip.
It's called yage,
and it's a green vine that grows deep in the Amazon.
Just like their domestic relations,
jaguars will act all
'kittenish' and playful after eating it.
But researchers say it's not all for play.
The jaguars may consume it to heighten their hunting skills.
And the Tukano people believe that too.
They use the vine to brew a strong tea
to be more like the jaguar and help their hunting.
Yage contains powerful chemicals
similar to antidepressants,
helping to elevate their senses during religious rituals
for an extra-visionary experience.
So you can't really blame the jaguars
for having a good time.
Our next party animals are really just that.
These are vervet monkeys,
and they like to get down with the tourists on St. Kitts.
LIke all good monkeys do,
they just love annoying visitors.
And these vervet monkeys are no different.
Stealing sips from cocktails,
they will run around looking for their next drink.
And it's not like the tourists have encouraged
all this binge drinking.
Historically, the monkeys got their alcohol fix from chewing
on fermented sugar cane from rum distilleries.
It's also been observed that 12% of them show signs
of what can be described
as excessive drinking practices.
So just like some of us,
they rather enjoy having one too many.
And last up are the dolphins
who are getting stoned from pufferfish.
First seen in the Azores in 1995,
there was a report of several dolphins
appearing dazed and with less energy
passing around a pufferfish.
They weren't eating it,
but just playfully handing it off to each other.
It turns out they were just having a right old time
getting stoned out of their minds
on a neurotoxin the pufferfish gives off
when it feels threatened.
Just like the other creatures in this episode,
dolphins like to have some fun too.
If you liked this episode,
why not check out how people are smoking
cane toad venom to get high.
These animals like to indulge in a little somethin'-somethin'
and do it just for kicks.
And that's what makes them
Crazy Creatures.