I think that in the long rivalry between connoisseurs of the drink and the science the last word belongs to the former now.
Two elephants have been saved from the deadly Siberian cold by drinking vodka, Russian officials say. They say the animals had to be taken out into the bitter cold after the wooden trailer they were travelling in caught fire in the Novosibirsk region. The elephants, aged 45 and 48, suffered frostbite to the tips of their ears amid temperatures of -40C (-40F). But they were warmed up by two cases of vodka mixed with warm water, one official was quoted as saying.Of course, BBC, fed by the public
Like with humans, alcohol can make animals feel warmer but it actually lowers their core body temperature, scientists say.I already feel warmer, being cared about by BBC, don't you? So, we can allow ourselves to lower our body temperature a degree or two.
Gesundheit! Or cheers, if you will.
P.S. Almost missed a point in that article:
The elephants belong to a Polish circus, which has been touring the region, reports say.Uhu... so these are Polish elephants, in a way, and a few bottles of vodka didn't make no nevermind to them...
10 comments:
A Russian feeding vodka to an elephant, what could be more appropriate.
I have heard that if you have worms drink vodka. I wonder if it is true.
Polish elephant too...
Hm... an interesting point. On the face of it, any drink with 40% and up alcohol content should do the same.
-40 is the same in Celsius and Fahrenheit? I tried it in a Celsius to Fahrenheit converter, and it seems that's the case. How does that work?
Yep, it is a coincidence, but don't you find it highly symbolic (or intended) that 40F and 40C match the 40% of alcohol content in vodka?
I have heard that if you have worms drink vodka
They'll get drunk?
Yeah, and stumble away... just a sec, what "away" means in this case?
Snoopy, does the fact that Russian vodka saved two Polish elephants make this the first time something Russian save something Polish?
Well it is a good thing that the elephants were not allowed to wonder, drunk away from the circus. They might have laid in the snow, feeling quite warm and froze to death. If it had been a heavy enough snow, the elephants might not have been found until the spring thaw!
(This really did happen to a fellow factory worker of my Dad's in South Bend, Indiana in the late 1940s. The guy was an alcoholic and one snowy night he got drunk and then tried to find his way back home. He apparently got lost in a field, lay down and froze to death. His body was not found until spring when the snow melted.)
I guess you are right, this must be the first ;-)
As for that fellow worker of your dad: in Russia this is a regular occurrence, esp. toward Christmas. Lots of cases like this.
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