Drunk Moose and the Drive to Get Loose

Becky Ripley and Emily Knight tackle a serious question. One of supreme scientific importance: do animals get wasted?

From drunk moose stuck in trees, to wasted wallabies asleep in opium fields, to dippy dolphins puffing on toxic pufferfish; stories abound about animals who seem to be using their free time to get sloshed. But do these stories, delightful as they are, stand up to scrutiny? In the natural world, when your survival relies on keeping your wits about you, what could be the evolutionary purpose of dulling your wits with psychoactive drugs?

Come to think of it, why do we do it? And what's the connection between getting high, seeing God, and learning to love your neighbour?

Produced by Becky Ripley and Emily Knight. Featuring zoologist Lucy Cooke, and Professor Richard Miller at Northwestern University.