<img src="/images/issues/2006/0505/strange0505.gif"> <BR> DRAWING BY DEBORAH DERR McCLINTOCK
<p>Q. My visiting aunt became concerned that the kids on the swingset were going too high and might swing all the way around... like she did as a kid. We don't believe her story. She insists she did a complete 360 around the top bar. Would it be possible for a kid to gain the momentum to do that? –R. L. Stevenson</p>
Q. If alcohol can turn a man into a beast, what does it do to the beasts? –J. Daniels
A. Insects feeding on wine grapes in vineyards can become intoxicated on the fermentations, reports Ronald K. Siegel in Intoxication: Life in Pursuit of Artificial Paradise.
* Bumblebees, hornets and wasps will lose their coordination and become temporarily grounded after ingesting fermented fruits.
* In earlier times, illegal stills were sometimes traced by the trail of tipsy livestock that had sniffed out the mash.
* African villagers have been known to rid themselves of rodents by leaving out bowls of milk and beer, then rounding up the woozy pests in the morning.
* Parrots are said to become more talkative after eating fermented fruits or sipping alcoholic beverages. "The birds stop talking and drinking only after they fall over," says Siegel. One dealer in rare birds overdosed his parrots on tequila to quiet them for smuggling across the Mexican border.
* Herd-feeding elephants, afraid they won't get their fair share of fermented fruit, will at times gorge themselves into swaying inebriation.
* One dog that lived near a brewery got to where it would often drink beer instead of eating.
* If an experimental "bar" is opened for monkeys on a 24-hour basis, they'll go into binge and abstinence cycles, much like addicted people.
Send Strange questions to brothers Bill and Rich at