Animals Behaving Badly

by Linda Lombardi

  “Pick Up a Penguin,” BBC News, Feb. 26, 1998, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/60302.stm.

  Tan, M., G. Jones, G. Zhu, J. Ye, T. Hong, et al., “Fellatio by Fruit Bats Prolongs Copulation Time,” PLoS ONE 4, no. 10 (2009): e7595, doi:10.1371/journal.pone .0007595.

  Viegas, Jennifer, “Monkeys, Too, Will Pay for Sex,” Discovery News, Dec. 19, 2007, http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/12/19/monkey-pay-sex.html.

  Walker, Matt, “‘Sex Pest’ Seal Attacks Penguin,” BBC News, May 2, 2008, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7379554.stm.

  Ward, Clarissa, “‘Panda Porn’ to Boost Male’s Sex Drive: Scientists Say Showing Sex-Shy Males Videos of Pandas Mating Ramps Up Low Libidos,” ABC News, Feb. 15, 2010, http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/AmazingAnimals/porn-boost-male-pandas-sex-drives/story?id=9718714.

  Waterman, J. M., “The Adaptive Function of Masturbation in a Promiscuous African Ground Squirrel,” PLoS ONE 5, no. 9 (2010): e13060, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0013060.

  Whitfield, John, “Eight-Legged Antics,” Nature News, July 16, 2001, www.nature.com/news/2001/010716/full/news010719-9.html.

  Wolf, Larry, “‘Prostitution’ Behavior in a Tropical Hummingbird,” Condor 77 (1975): 140–144.

  Yong, Ed, “Squirrels Masturbate to Avoid Sexually Transmitted Infections,” Discover, Sept. 28, 2010, http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2010/09/28/squirrels-masturbate-to-avoid-sexually-transmitted-infections.

  4. ANIMAL FAMILY VALUES

  Attewill, Fred, “Swan Accused of Killing First Wife, Driving Two More Away,” Metro, July 29, 2010, www.metro.co.uk/weird/836597-swan-accused-of-killing-first-wife-driving-two-more-away.

  Bagemihl, Bruce, Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity, St. Martin’s, 1999, pp. 369, 489, 527, 547, 555, 604, 627–630.

  Barash, David, and Judith Eve Lipton, The Myth of Monogamy: Fidelity and Infidelity in Animals and People, W. H. Freeman, 2001, p. 47.

  Bourton, Jody, “Sexy Sparrow Exposed as World’s Most Promiscuous Bird,” BBC News, Jan. 22, 2010, http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8473000/8473161.stm.

  Bradshaw, G. A., Elephants on the Edge: What Animals Teach Us about Humanity, Yale University Press, 2010.

  Coelho, Sara, “Lesson to Monkey Mothers: Don’t Ignore Tantrums,” Science Now, March 11, 2009, http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2009/03/11-03.html.

  “Diary: New Guinea’s Secret Species,” BBC News, Feb. 24, 2009, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7861563.stm.

  “Elephants Kill Endangered Rhino,” BBC News, Feb. 14, 2000, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/642731.stm.

  Ens, Bruno J., Marcel Kersten, Alex Brenninkmeijer, and Jan B. Hulscher, “Territory Quality, Parental Effort and Reproductive Success of Oystercatchers (Haematopus ostralegus),” Journal of Animal Ecology 61, no. 3 (1992): 703–715, www.jstor.org/stable/5625.

  Frank, L. G., S. E. Glickman, and P. Licht, “Fatal Sibling Aggression, Precocial Development, and Androgens in Neonatal Spotted Hyenas,” Science 252, no. 5006 (May 3, 1991): 702–704, doi:10.1126/science.2024122.

  Fraser, David, and B. K. Thompson, “Armed Sibling Rivalry Among Suckling Piglets,” Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 29 (1991): 9–15, www.springerlink.com/content/j20h64gn84r47q2k.

  Gill, Victoria, “Earwigs ‘Sniff Out’ Best Babies,” BBC News, May 13, 2009, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8040259.stm.

  Gilmore, R. G., J. W. Dodrill, and P. A. Linley, “Reproduction and Embryonic Development of the Sand Tiger Shark, Odontaspis taurus,” Fishery Bulletin 81, no. 2 (1983): 201–225.

  Hausfater, Glenn, and Sarah Hrdy, eds., Infanticide: Comparative and Evolutionary Perspectives, Aldine, 1984, pp. xiv, xxvii, xxvii.

  Highfield, Roger, “Elephant Rage: They Never Forgive, Either,” Sydney Morning Herald, Feb. 17, 2006, www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/02/16/1140064206413.html.

  Hrdy, Sarah Blaffer, Mother Nature: A History of Mothers, Infants, and Natural Selection, Pantheon, 1999, p. 33, 46, 52.

  Ledford, Heidi, “ ‘Monogamous’ Vole in Love-Rat Shock: Randy Rodent Revels in Raunchy Romps,” Nature 451 (2008): 617, doi:10.1038/451617a.

  Leggett, Hadley, “Penguin Parents Won’t Chip In to Help Handicapped Spouse,” Wired, July 2, 2009, www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/07/penguinpartners.

  “Living with Wildlife: Scrubfowl,” Northern Territory Government, www.nt.gov.au/nreta/wildlife/animals/living/scrubfowl.html.

  Lyon, Bruce E., John M. Eadie, and Linda D. Hamilton, “Parental Choice Selects for Ornamental Plumage in American Coot Chicks,” Nature 371 (2002): 240–243, www.nature.com/nature/journal/v371/n6494/abs/371240a0.html.

  Maestripieri, D., “Early Experience Affects the Intergenerational Transmission of Infant Abuse in Rhesus Monkeys,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 102 (2005):9726–9729, http://primate.uchicago.edu/2005PNAS.pdf.

  Maestripieri, D., K. Wallen, and K. A. Carroll, “Infant Abuse Runs in Families of Group-Living Pigtail Macaques,” Child Abuse and Neglect 21, no. 5 (1997): 465–471, http://primate.uchicago.edu/1997CAN.pdf.

  McKie, Robin, “Don’t Call Them Love Rats. Virtuous Voles Turn Out to Be All Too Human,” Observer, Feb. 10, 2008, www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/feb/10/animalbehaviour.

  Mims, Christopher, “Addicted to Love,” Smithsonian Zoogoer (May–June 2004), http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Publications/ZooGoer/2004/3/monogamy.cfm.

  Mock, Douglas, “Infanticide, Siblicide, and Avian Nesting Mortality,” in Infanticide: Comparative and Evolutionary Perspectives, edited by G. Hausfater and S. G. Hrdy, Aldine, 1984, pp. 3–30.

  Norris, Scott, “Murderous Meerkat Moms Contradict Caring Image, Study Finds,” National Geographic News, March 15, 2006, http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/03/0315_060315_meerkats.html.

  O’Gara, B., “Unique Aspects of Reproduction in the Female Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana ),” American Journal of Anatomy 125 (1969): 217–232.

  Ophir, A. G., et al., “Social but Not Genetic Monogamy Is Associated with Greater Breeding Success in Voles,” Animal Behavior (2008), doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2007.09 .022.

  Richardson, Justin, Peter Parnell, and Henry Cole, And Tango Makes Three, Simon & Schuster: 2005.

  Siebert, Charles, “An Elephant Crackup?” New York Times Magazine, Oct. 8, 2006, www.nytimes.com/2006/10/08/magazine/08elephant.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=an%20elephant%20crackup&st=cse.

  Slotow, Rob, Gus van Dyk, Joyce Poole, Bruce Page, and Andre Klocke, “Older Bull Elephants Control Young Males,” Nature 408 (2000): 425–426, doi:10.1038/35044191.

  Sly, Liz, “A Murder Mystery: Why Were Elephants Slaughtering Rhinos?—Lack of Adult Role Models Gets the Blame,” Chicago Tribune/Seattle Times, Oct. 23, 1994, http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19941023&slug=1937416.

  Tucker, Abigail, “The Truth About Lions,” Smithsonian Magazine, Jan. 2010, www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/The-Truth-About-Lions.html.

  Wahaj, S. A., N. J. Place, M. L. Weldele, S. E. Glickman, and K. E. Holekamp, “Siblicide in the Spotted Hyena: Analysis with Ultrasonic Examination of Wild and Captive Individuals,” Behavioral Ecology 18 (2007): 974–984, doi:10.1093/beheco/arm076.

  Young, Andrew J., and Tim Clutton-Brock, “Infanticide by Subordinates Influences Reproductive Sharing in Cooperatively Breeding Meerkats.” Biology Letters 2 (2006): 385–387, http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/2/3/385.full?sid=f2046282-f78b-4c16-8c85-cd225fe35b99.

  “Zoo Penguin Couple Breaks Up,” San Francisco Examiner, July 10, 2009, www.sfexaminer.com/local/Zoo-penguin-couple-breaks-up-50421527.html (accessed July 30, 2009).

  Zuk, Marlene, Sexual Selections: What We Can and Can’t Learn About Sex from Animals, University of California Press, 2003, p. 70.

  5. PARTY ANIMALS

  “Alcoholic Chimpanzee to Be Taken to Treatment Clinic from Russian Zoo,” RIA Novosti, Feb. 26, 2010, http://en.rian.ru/russia/20100226/158020509.html.

  “B
oozy Bear Plunders Campers’ Beer,” BBC News, Aug. 19, 2004, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/3580626.stm.

  “Canines Get Caned,” Sydney Morning Herald, Feb. 18, 2005, www.smh.com.au/articles/2005/02/18/1108609398419.html?oneclick=true.

  Charter, David, “Mushrooms Lose Their Magic,” London Times, Oct. 12, 2007, www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article2641369.ece.

  Darwin, Charles, The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, Clarke, Given and Hooper, 1874.

  “Degenerate Honey Bees,” New York Times, Dec. 26, 1898, http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9900E0DD113CE433A25755C2A9649D94699ED7CF.

  Dizikes, Cynthia, “Khat—Is It More Coffee or Cocaine?” Los Angeles Times, Jan. 3, 2009, http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jan/03/nation/na-khat3.

  “Dog Gets High on Pot Found in Park,” KING5, Aug. 15, 2009, www.king5.com/news/local/60025647.html.

  “Drunk Badger Blocks German Road,” AFP, July 8, 2009, www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i9a013U8U1EbEBcrlAf0115R6doQ.

  “Drunk Elephants Kill Six People,” BBC News, Dec. 17, 2002, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2583891.stm.

  Graber, Cynthia, “Fact or Fiction?: Animals Like to Get Drunk,” Scientific American, July 28, 2008, www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=animals-like-to-get-drunk.

  GrrlScientist, “Lemurs: Millipede Junkies,” Living the Scientific Life, Jan. 30, 2008, http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/2008/01/lemurs_millipede_junkies.php.

  Harrison, David, “Quest for ‘Alcohol Gene’ Sets Monkeys on Binge,” Telegraph (UK), March 3, 2002, www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/centralamericaandthecaribbean/saintkittsandnevis/1386625/Quest-for-alcohol-gene-sets-monkeys-on-binge.html.

  Highfield, Roger, “Apes Were First to Get High on Drugs,” Telegraph (UK), Dec. 26, 2001, www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1366327/Apes-were-first-to-get-high-on-drugs.html.

  “Honey Bees on Cocaine Dance More, Changing Ideas about the Insect Brain,” Science Daily, Dec. 25, 2008, www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081223091308.htm.

  “How Does Catnip Work Its Magic on Cats?” Scientific American, May 29, 2007, www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=experts-how-does-catnip-work-on-cats.

  Hussain, Wasbir, “6 Drunk Elephants Electrocute Themselves,” AP/Seattle Times, Oct. 23, 2007, http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003969241_webelephants23.html.

  “Intoxicated Honey Bees May Clue Scientists into Drunken Human Behavior,” Science Daily, Oct. 25, 2004, www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/10/041025123121.htm.

  “Junk Food Turns Rats into Addicts,” Science News, Nov. 21, 2009, www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/48605/title/Junk_food_turns_rats_into_addicts.

  Lee, Chris, “Pound for Pound, Bats Can Drink You Under the Table,” ARS Technica, Feb. 3, 2010, http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2010/02/not-getting-drunk-has-some-advantages-who-knew.ars.

  Mirsch, Laura, “The Dog Who Loved to Suck on Toads,” NPR, Oct. 24, 2006, www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6376594.

  Moskowitz, Clara, “Tree Shrew Sober Despite Drinking All Day,” Live Science, July 28, 2008, www.livescience.com/animals/080728-alcoholic-treeshrews.html.

  Orbach, D. N., N. Veselka, Y. Dzal, L. Lazure, and M. B. Fenton, “Drinking and Flying: Does Alcohol Consumption Affect the Flight and Echolocation Performance of Phyllostomid Bats?” PLoS ONE 5, no. 2 (2010): e8993, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008993.

  Page, Jeremy, “Villagers Killed as Elephants Develop Taste for Rice Beer,” London Times, Nov. 15, 2006, www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article636819.ece.

  Palen, Gary F., and Graham V. Goddard, “Catnip and Oestrous Behaviour in the Cat,” Animal Behaviour 14, nos. 2–3 (April–July 1966): 372–377, doi:10.1016/S0003 -3472(66)80100-8

  Pendergrast, Mark, Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World, Basic Books, 2000.

  Pfister, J. A., B. L. Stegelmeier, D. R. Gardner, and L. F. James, “Grazing of Spotted Locoweed (Astragalus lentiginosus) by Cattle and Horses in Arizona,” Journal of Animal Science 81 (2003): 2285–2293, www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publicationshtm?SEQ_NO_115=142862. .

  Sanders, Laura, “Fruit Flies Can Be Alcoholics Too: Behavior of Drosophila Shows Similarities to Human Addiction,” Science News, Dec. 10, 2009, www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/50640/title/Fruit_flies_can_be_alcoholics_too.

  Scicurious, “The Mouse That Couldn’t Get High,” Neurotopia, Feb. 4, 2009, http://scienceblogs.com/neurotopia/2009/02/this_is_a_mouse_that_just_cant.php.

  Siegel, Ronald, Intoxication: The Universal Drive for Mind-Altering Substances, Park Street Press, 2005, pp. 12, 37–39, 65, 119–120, 132, 153–154, 165.

  “Stoned Wallabies Make Crop Circles,” BBC News, June 25, 2009, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8118257.stm.

  “Sweden Woman’s ‘Murder’ Committed by Elk Not Husband,” BBC News, Nov. 28, 2009, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8384143.stm.

  Tewary, Amarnath, “Inside the World’s Largest Opium Factory,” BBC News, July 21, 2008, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7509059.stm.

  Ustinova, Tanya, “Boozy Chimp Sent to Rehab,” Reuters, Feb. 26, 2010, www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61P3SM20100226.

  Volk, Thomas J., “Tom Volk’s Fungus of the Month for December 2000,” http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/dec2000.html.

  Walsh, Joseph M., Coffee: Its History, Classification and Description, John C. Winston, 1894.

  Young, Emma, “Boozing Bees,” New Scientist, Sept. 26, 2000, p. 38, www.newscientist.com/article/dn22-boozing-bees.html.

  6. BEASTLY DEVICES AND DECEITS

  Angier, Natalie, “A Highly Evolved Propensity for Deceit,” New York Times, Dec. 22, 2008, www.nytimes.com/2008/12/23/science/23angi.html?_r=4&8dpc.

  Blakeslee, Sandra, “What a Rodent Can Do with a Rake in Its Paw,” New York Times, March 26, 2008, www.nytimes.com/2008/03/26/science/26rodentw.html.

  Brahic, Catherine, “Nut-Cracking Monkeys Find the Right Tool for the Job,” New Scientist, Jan. 15, 2009, www.newscientist.com/article/dn16426-nutcracking-monkeys-find-the-right-tool-for-the-job.html.

  Bro-Jørgensen, Jakob, and Wiline M. Pangle, “Male Topi Antelopes Alarm Snort Deceptively to Retain Females for Mating,” American Naturalist 176, no. 1 (July 2010), www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1086/653078.

  Calamia, Joseph, “4 Messages a Pantomiming Orangutan Might Be Trying to Convey,” Discover, Aug. 11, 2010, http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2010/08/11/4-messages-a-pantomiming-orangutan-might-be-trying-to-convey.

  Callaway, Ewen, “Pet Dogs Rival Humans for Emotional Satisfaction,” New Scientist, Jan. 14, 2009, www.newscientist.com/article/dn16412-pet-dogs-rival-humans-for-emotional-satisfaction.html.

  Calvin, William H., Almost Us: Portraits of the Apes, BookSurge, 2005.

  “Cat Parasite Affects Everything We Feel and Do,” ABC News, Aug. 9, 2006, http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/DyeHard/story?id=2288095&page=2.

  Cheney, D. L., and R. M. Seyfarth, “Truth and Deception in Animal Communication,” in Cognitive Ethology: The Minds of Other Animals, edited by C. A. Ristau, Lawrence Erlbaum, 1990, pp. 127–152.

  Choi, Charles Q., “Chimps Make Spears and Hunt Bushbabies,” Live Science, Feb. 22, 2007, www.livescience.com/animals/070222_chimp_hunters.html.

  Connor, Steve, “Cross-Dressing Cuttlefish Is Casanova of the Reef,” Independent (UK), Jan. 20, 2005, www.independent.co.uk/environment/crossdressing-cuttlefish-is-casanova-of-the-reef-487413.html.

  “Cuttlefish Wimps ‘Dress as Girls,’” BBC News, Jan. 19, 2005, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4188495.stm.

  Ehrenberg, Rachel, “Cads of the Savanna: Male Topi Antelopes Lie to Get the Ladies,” Science News 177, no. 13 (June 19, 2010), www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/59497/title/Cads_of_the_savanna.

  Ehrlund, Anna, “Never Trust a Hungry Monkey,” Science Now, June 3, 2009, http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2009/06/03-02.html.


  Flegr, Jaroslav, Jiĭí Klose Martina Novotná, Miroslava Berenreitterová, and Jan Havlíček, “Increased Incidence of Traffic Accidents in Toxoplasma-Infected Military Drivers and Protective Effect RhD Molecule Revealed by a Large-Scale Prospective Cohort Study,” BMC Infectious Diseases 9 (2009): 72, doi:10.1186/1471-2334-9-72.

  Flower, Tom, “Fork-Tailed Drongos Use Deceptive Mimicked Alarm Calls to Steal Food,” Proceedings of the Royal Society Section B, Nov. 3, 2010, doi:10.1098/rspb.2010 .1932.

  Geddes, Linda, “Missile-Throwing Chimp Plots Attacks on Tourists,” New Scientist, March 9, 2009, www.newscientist.com/article/dn16726-missilethrowing-chimp-plots-attacks-on-tourists.html.

  Hanlon, Roger T., Marié-Jose Naud, Paul W. Shaw, and Jon N. Havenhand, “Transient Sexual Mimicry Leads to Fertilization,” Nature 433 (2005): 212, doi:10.1038/433212a.

  Hauser, Marc D., Wild Minds: What Animals Really Think, Holt Paperbacks, 2001, pp. 142, 147, 149, 161.

  Holland, Jennifer S., “Let Sneaky Dogs Lie,” NGM Blog Central, Aug. 13, 2010, http://blogs.ngm.com/blog_central/2010/08/let-sneaky-dogs-lie.html.

  “House Cats Know What They Want and How to Get It from You,” Science Daily, July 13, 2009, www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090713121348.htm.

  Hrdy, Sarah Blaffer, Mother Nature: A History of Mothers, Infants, and Natural Selection, Pantheon, 1999, p. 75.

  Kennedy, J. Michael, “Octavia the Octopus Dies as Tank Empties,” Los Angeles Times, April 12, 1994, http://articles.latimes.com/1994-04-12/local/me-44986_1_san-pedro-aquarium.

  Kundey, Shannon M. A., Andres de Los Reyes, Chelsea Taglang, Rebecca Allen, Sabrina Molina, Erica Royer, and Rebecca German, “Domesticated Dogs (Canis familiaris) React to What Others Can and Cannot Hear.” Applied Animal Behaviour Science 126, no. 1 (Aug. 2010): 45–50, doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2010.06.002.

  “Ladyboy Lizards Use Transvestite Trickery,” AFP, March 2, 2009, www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h5PZuDpvK4jur27xYvDM4AGRT_MQ.

  Leake, Jonathan, “Dangerrrr: Cats Could Alter Your Personality,” LondonTimes, Sept. 21, 2003, www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article1161725.ece.