Rocky Ford enterprise., 1899-07-06
ANIMAL pRunkARps.
Horses. Fowls. Csts and Bees as "shocis-
Ing Examplcs."

hotsoss 3oWiss Sbb ana boos ns "ShOck.
Ing Examplcs."
In the course of county court ac-
tion tried early this year It transpired
that an ailing cat consumed two bot
ties of whisky. says Answers. Now.
that horses enjoy strong drink Is
well-known fact, but that the domestic
cat is capable OF imbibing will come
as surprise to many, who imagined
that the connection between the cat and
the decantsr was but stock summer
Joke for the humorist. when seaside
lodgings are at premium. 1t was
probably to great extent due to the
large quantity OF stout that Rory
OMore drank. when recovering from
the effects of an accident received at
kempton. that he survived to carry off
numerous prizes. II prize winning
formed a natural corollary to equine
drinking. British owners would have
reason to look forward to the forth
coming season with apprehension, for
few months ago there was discovered
IN Paris a horse belonging to dealer
in wines that is a positive insbriate.
The animal, after many bottles of vino
>-@-A NASoppSaASup WIGS louuu ouc uziy
hopelessly intoxicated in its owners
cellars. into which it was in the habit
seemingly OF making Its way at night
and helping itself. The horse was not
altogether to blame, for 1t had been
corrupted to certain extent by hav-
ing Its oats mixed with wine when It
was rather overworked, with the result
that 1t acquired habit which grew
upon 1t with disastrous results. Some
Few years ago an action was brought
at Oban by poultry keeper against
local distillery company for injuries
done to his hens by the said company
having allowed intoxicating material
to flow into the burn at which his
poultry drank, with the result that the
said fowls failed to do their duty in
laying eggs. and. being more or less
always under tie influence of drink.
refused to eat and grow fat. During
the case one OF the fowls was produced
IN court, but its conduct was such that
1t had to be elected. Alas! on making
an undignified exit, half glass of
whisky was presented to 1t by by
stander and gratefully accepted by the
somewhat ruffied bird, whereupon the
condition of the creature became con-
siderably worse. The chicken is not
the only bird that indulges. Parrots
are notorious for their drinking pro-
pensities. particularly the gray African
parrot, specimen of which the writer
has seen hopelessly intoxicated and
talking the most absolute nonsense. A
piece Of "tipsy" cake was presented to
Hampshire donkey some timc ago.
The animal on being left to its own
devices lost all sense OF shame and
proceeded to the larder OF Its owner
and consumed plum pudding of con-
siderable size. two loaves of bread, and
among other trihes a dish Of timed
apricots-an action quite foreign to tho
usually well-regulated race. The effect
OF very little spirit made fifty ants,
upon which Sir John Lubbock expert
mented couple Of years ago, very
drunk and almost incapable, SO much
SO that twenty-five sober ants, whose
attention was drawn to the depravity
OF their comrades, had the greatest
difficulty in carrying the sinners home,
though thy eventually succeeded in
doink so. The locust. however, appears
to have capacity for spirit unparal-
leled in the animal kingdom. Some
months since an entomologist on
steamer off Gibraltar, wishing to Sc
cure specimen that had alighted on
the deck and not having killing bot
tie with him, poured raw brandy upon
the insect. but with no result. He
then partially immersed 1t in more
spirit in a saucer and waited for the
end, which did not come. The locust.
taking long, refreshing drink, alb
sorbed all the spirit and did not die
until several days elapsed. Bees and
wasps are easily made tipsy by mix
ture of beer and sugar. The express
sion ito drink like fish" is nothing
short Of libel perpetrated upon the
fnny tribe. for it has been found that
l per cent Of alcohol will kill a gold
fish in one hour and thirty minutes.
while 20 per cent will act on Its sys-
tenn like prussic acid.