Reindeer on Psychedelics

SUBHEAD: Scientist claims reindeer, and other animals get high on magic mushrooms.

By Staff on 23 December 2010 from Huffington Post - (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/23/reindeer-magic-mushrooms_n_801006.html)

Image above: Amanita muscaria - it is one of the most potent psychedelic mushrooms known. From (http://www.myspace.com/wasted187/blog/519966483).

Turns out the myth of flying reindeer might not be that far from the truth: According to a piece in Pharmaceutical Journal by scientist Andrew Haynes, they (along with other animals) sometimes deliberately eat hallucinogenic fungi in order to amuse themselves during long winters.

The Sun reports:

Haynes believes reindeer deliberately seek out the mushrooms to escape the monotony of dreary long winters.

Writing in the respected Pharmaceutical Journal, Mr Haynes said: "They have a desire to experience altered states of consciousness.

"For humans a common side-effect of mushrooms is the feeling of flying, so it's interesting the legend about Santa's reindeer is they can fly."

He also said herdsmen drink the reindeer's urine to get high themselves.

In a slightly less appetizing tidbit, Haynes went on to say that herdsmen have been known to drink their own reindeer's urine in an effort to catch a buzz themselves.

.