Inebriated lorikeets falling from the sky in Darwin

[Symbiate]

http://www.news.com.au/national/evil-drunk-birds-are-falling-from-the-sky-in-darwin/story-e6frfkvr-1226060305131

DRUNK lorikeets are falling out of the sky in Darwin.

Despite tough laws on alcohol consumption across the Northern Territory, a vet was preparing for another season of alcohol-fueled avian vertigo.

The noisy birds - famous for creating a racket at the Friday Palmerston Markets, on the outskirts of Darwin - act in a drunk manner and then fall over, according to Ark Animal Hospital vet Dr Stephen Cutter.

Dr Cutter said the birds were unlikely to be drinking alcohol but might eat from a plant that causes them to become drunk. "It's probably a plant with alcohol - or toxins in a plant making it worse," he said.

Dr Cutter added that the animal hospital already received about half a dozen sick parrots so far this year.

"It usually happens every May. It's hard to predict," he said.

Dr Cutter was unsure if the birds might have been poisoned by angry residents trying to sleep.

"I know they're not popular. They're lovely pets, but evil when wild," he added.

[Distracted]

I love drunk bird news, and lorikeets are awesome!

The lorikeets love the stonefruit that grow in my backyard and the giant palm in the front and i certainly don't mind their noise

[gogogadget]

i don't mean to hi-jack a thread (my sentence of the month) my partner came home and told me her friend has a reticulated python that always sleeps with her but is usually curled up into a ball but for a week it stopped eating and was laying alongside her

so she took it to the vet for a checkup and he said crikey your lucky, he was sizing you up against himself and fasting to fit her in, just goes to show animals aren't as predictable as one may seem.

Edited May 23, 2011 by gogogadget

[tripsis]

Ha, now that is news! My dad always told me stories of rainbow lorikeets getting drunk from eating overripe fruit.

[Alchemica]

The real question is, "can we extract any good sh*t from their excrement?". Fermented fruits... alcohol... recreational toxins? Getting pissed hasn't been cutting it for me lately, maybe I need to move onto lorikeet's piss... What are these birds getting inebriated off... and where can I score some?

[shortly]

I dunno about recreational toxins but the Lories around here are frequently stoned after a visit to the african tulips, then they spend the rest of the day flopping about on the ground or flying into sold objects

Still, at least they fair better than the bees, tulip trees are a one way trip for them

[quarterflesh]

I have been told by a lot of people in Bowen that the lorikeets eat the old mangoes that are left to rot on the ground and get intoxicated. lol

[∂an]

"I know they're not popular. They're lovely pets, but evil when wild," he added.

 

Quick someone put these birds in a cage before they annoy any more residents with their drunken antics!

Edited May 22, 2011 by kalika

[Amazonian]

i don't mean to hi-jack a thread (my sentence of the month) my partner came home and told me her friend has a python that always sleeps with her but is usually curled up into a ball but for a week it stopped eating and was laying alongside her

so she took it to the vet for a checkup and he said crikey your lucky, he was sizing you up against himself and fasting to fit her in, just goes to show animals aren't as predictable as one may seem.

 

Also not meaning to hi-lack the thread ,,,, but... ^ i really don't believe pythons will do that. They are opportunistic feeders. If the conditions are right,, temperature , photoperiod etc.. they will eat food when it is offered. For a snake to even consider eating a person, it would have to be a Reticulated Python, an Anaconda or maybe a Boa Constrictor. Even Australia's largest python, the Scrub python would struggle eating an adult human ( although can consume kangaroos and other large-ish prey). I think the vet is tripping.

Edited May 23, 2011 by Amazonian

[gogogadget]

sorry i perhaps forgot to mention she did say it was a reticulated python i've edited my post

[Slybacon]

^^^^ not the first time I have heard that story

[synchromesh]

Definitely a cool bird. And I swear, whenever I go mushroom hunting, the same one greets me every time.

[herbal_hindsight]

thats an awesome photo synchro! nice work... ive always loved these birds! i have heaps around my suburb and i don't find the noise of the birds annoying at all... i can sleep through anything and it's always nice to wake up to!

[herbal_hindsight]

and sorry to err hijack the thread aswell but you better watch out when picking mushrooms synchro... the birds might steal your harvest ;-)

i've seen magpies and kookaburras eat mushrooms before.. i had to chase them away from the camp site cheeky birds!