you got a stash of ibuprofen or whatever to help

put you to rights, right?

But if you're an animal,

they can't just pop down to the nearest Walgreens when they got a tummy ache.

So how do they cure what ails them?

Well it turns out, some animals have figured out

how to self medicate using some pretty weird stuff.

[Intro]

Anting!

Birds have trouble with parasites.

I mean, who doesn't?

But for birds its really important to stay clean 'cause

if you got a bunch of mites gnawing on your feathers

you're not gonna be able to do all your fun bird stuff

like flyin around.

So a lot of them, around 250 species, do this thing

called Anting.

They hunker down on top of an anthill,

and let hundreds of ants swarm all over them!

Sounds like fun, right?

Well the ants secrete chemicals like Formic Acid,

which is the stuff that makes ant bites sting,

but it also helps keep mites away, and other pests,

and it's even thought to soothe bird's skin

that's been irritated by molting.

Apparently it even feels so good that sometimes birds will scoop up

huge beak fulls of ants and squash them,

rubbing the ant mush all over themselves.

Corvids, which include Magpies, Jays, and Crows,

seem to be especially fond of this.

And while the occasional anting can be a healthful and invigorating activity,

some birds,

get,

into it,

like, really into it.

Some scientists think that bids can actually become

anting addicts.

Just like other kinds of self medication, some birds

carry their anting to the point where it's actually hurting

other aspects of their lives

and they're basically just

sitting in an ant pile all day.

It's pitiful, really.

Our second example,

Passing the Milipede.

Non-Human primates have a knack for finding

medicine in the wild and much like an anting bird

Capuchin Monkeys in South America

have discovered the healing powers of poisonous millipedes.

Capuchins hunt down a particular species of milipede

called O. Dorsovittatus.

So they can rub it all over their bodies.

They do this because the millipedes are filled with Benzoquinones.

An insecticide many times more toxic

that any deep woods bug repellent you've ever used.

Not only do Benzoquinones pretoect

the monkeys during the crazy annual mosquito season

they also repel botflies

which can lay eggs under a monkey's skin,

forming a dangerous festering cyst

that will eventually,

explode!

and maggots will erupt from it.

but the problem with this whole scenario

is that the Capuchins have to make the millipede mad

before it will release it's insecticidal toxins.

So the monkeys

bite

the millipede, which tastes terrible

and are obviously really poisonus,

and then they rub the angry bugs all over themselves.

So a bunch of Capuchins will like,

sit in a circle,

passing a single milipede around

taking,

biting it,

and then rubbin it on themselves.

It's kinda sweet, actually.

Our third and final example,

Jaguars

eating vines.

You know how a cat

eat some grass when it's tummy's upset

and then barf,

and feel better?

Well in the Amazonian rainforest,

Jaguars do the same kinda thing but just a little bit more Intense

Jaguars have been known to eat Yage.

A common vine in the Amazon that's used by native people

to, mostly in religious ceremonies in a drink,

called Ayahuasca.

So Yage,

it turns out

contains compounds called Beta Carboline Alkaloids.

Which make people barf!

And have Diarrhea like crazy!

Native people actually refer to Ayahuasca as La Purga

or, The Purge.

But, the chemicals that cause this purging also cause

intense hallucinations!

By blocking your brain's ability to reabsorb Serotonin

Now nobody knows exactly whether Yage has the same

psychoactive effect on jaguars

'cause it turns out it's pretty difficult to study the brain chemistry

of a jaguar that's trippin out on drugs

But it certainly purges their system of parasites

Which im sure

Is totally worth it

Thank you for self medicating yourself

with this episode of SciShow

If you want to keep getting smarter with us

you can go to youtube.com/scishow

and subscribe

[Outro]