April 28, 2007
The alcoholic vervets of St. Kitts
Via Majikthise:
[Thanks to Margit Oberrauch and Asad Raza.]
Posted by S. Abbas Raza at 01:53 PM | Permalink
April 28, 2007The alcoholic vervets of St. KittsVia Majikthise: [Thanks to Margit Oberrauch and Asad Raza.] Posted by S. Abbas Raza at 01:53 PM | Permalink |
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Comments
This is actually extremely unfunny, unless you think the sight of wild things drunk enough to compromise their safety is a gas. Elephants, birds and monkeys all seek inebriation when fruits ferment in their own habitats -- this we know. But letting the vervets raid drinks in an environment where they must interact safely with humans and might well become too disinhibited to do so is deeply, deeply inhumane. Like the Anglican cleric wrote, "Only man is vile."
Posted by: Elatia Harris | Apr 28, 2007 7:01:57 PM
Just a little tongue in cheek Elatia: no? As you pointed out many if not most animals with lower cognitive status than homo sapiens will freely engage in substance use and at times abuse…but to close with a quote on our nature to understand is a twist.
Posted by: . | Apr 28, 2007 10:11:28 PM
Unfunny? I thought it was amusing. To say that this is 'deeply, deeply inhumane' is a going a bit far based on this clip, though. We weren't given any evidence that the vervets come to any harm from this (except most likely a probably larger-than vervet-sized hangover). They may in fact quite possibly have a lot of fun with it too, no? If you criticize this too harshly you'll have to apply the same thing to human drinking...
Posted by: fred546 | Apr 29, 2007 8:13:32 AM
And this idea of human self-loathing, that all that is bad comes from us, and all that is good and innocent, comes from a somehow-separate 'Nature' (capital N) is a bit of a tired cliche--murder, rape, bullying, senseless killing, pollution... name your commandment and there are other species out there that have broken it. The interesting question here, I think, is what motivates the vervets to drink. Is it a simple addiction, something they don't know well enough to avoid doing? In which case they perhaps need to be treated as children and be cut off from the bar. Or are they enjoying themselves? Do they only drink occasionally? To drown their sorrows or just to celebrate? In fact, there may be a bit of humor in here after all...
Posted by: Aerie | Apr 29, 2007 10:11:40 AM
It is unavoidably funny. We see monkeys as little versions of ourselves and watch their antics for the raw display of behavior they afford us. Is it good? Is it bad? How can we be objective about this by applying human sensibilities to the actions of animals? I don't know, but until I see a problem with drunken monkeys suffering, I'll wag my finger at the root cause of problems we know to exist.
Posted by: doug L | May 1, 2007 1:59:08 PM
Doug, I like your phrase, "unavoidably funny." And it is at first gigglesome in just that sense. There are some pretty funny home movies of drunk or otherwise chemically altered humans too. But the fun is predicated on the assumption of nothing bad happening later; if the video camera followed the hilariously drunken person to his car and recorded his somehow maneuvering it onto the road, even audience members who always get a kick out of humor involving drinking and drunkenness will cease to be amused -- fast.
We don't need to know if monkeys suffer when they're drunk. Like us, they become disinhibited, and do things that enhance risk. The literature says these things include biting and chasing humans and other forms of aggression on humans, food-stealing, defecating on table-tops -- you get the picture. Then they have to be trapped and put down. Alas, I know what I'm talking about here, so you can trust me. All in all, I think it's better to shoo them when they want to raid drinks. There is nothing solemn, preachy or finger-wagging about the notion that humans need to have a care here, no matter how amusing it can be when our vigilance slips and someone shows up with a camera.
Posted by: Elatia Harris | May 1, 2007 8:01:28 PM
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