The Numbing of the Shrew

And thereby hangs a tail

Photo courtesy of the BBC

According to the BBC, the Malaysian Pen-Tailed tree shrew, a teensy little rat-thingy is a champion boozer. Apparently it's tolerance for alcohol, pound-for-pound, would put a human being under the table:

The animal could give insights into how humans' alcohol tolerance first evolved, the scientists say.

The team has published details of its work in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Despite the shrews' small size, they are no lightweights when it comes to their alcohol intake.

Nectar from the flower buds of the Bertam palm is fermented to a maximum alcohol content of up to 3.8%.

Each bud is a miniature brewery, containing a yeast community that turns the nectar into a frothy beer-like beverage.

Yet the animals, which are about the size of a small rat, do not seem to get drunk at all, researchers say.

This bud's for you? It must be like the Bard said, 'There's small choice in rotten apples.' The urge to alter consciousness appears universal. Birds eat berries containing alkaloids that affect their perception and consciousness, elephants seek out rotting fruit that ferments in their stomach, producing alcohol (what do you do with a ten-tonne mean drunk?) and Koala bears spend the day stoned from eating Eucalyptus leaves. Me, I'm just glad I get to sit at a nice table and drink quietly out of a glass.

A video of the pie-eyed little tree dwellers can be seen here.



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