After the experiment concluded, Calhoun took the 4 healthiest males and females out of the enclosure, but their behavior was altered to the point that they could no longer care for their young as their pups all died shortly after weening.The Probers would also cannibalize their young instead of caring for them. Group 3: The Probers The weirdest of the 3 groups, these rodents were hyperactive and hyper-sexual, pursuing females in heat despite suffering numerous injuries from the dominant rats.Group 2: The Somnabulists This group was simply described as fat, sleek, and healthy-looking, ignoring the other rats and being mostly ignored by them.Group 1: The Pansexuals These rats wouldn't compete for social standing, spending their time rummaging around the enclosure attempting to mate with any other rats regardless of age or gender, and their advances would often go unchallenged.Three groups of male non-dominant rats were defined:.These were called "the beautiful ones" precisely because they spent a lot of time cleaning themselves. Some rats just kept themselves isolated from the rest, not interacting with them nor trying to mate, dedicating most of their time to grooming.Some males were frequent recipients of violence that they had to endure because there was no escape. Some males still tried to mate even if that caused them to suffer violence from stronger males.Those who survived were often unprepared to care for their own offspring once they had them.
Of those that did breed, strange behaviors started to show, like violently attacking the infants (this is not uncommon for some reason, rodents sometimes eat their offspring) or stopping caring for the offspring long before it was normal.Some females made groups and created their own territories living together and violently rejecting any male approaching, with no apparent interest in breeding.Interestingly, the dominant males allowed some males to remain, although these males exhibited odd behavior, as rather than try to mate with the females, the males would attempt to mate with the dominant male, and the dominant male would let them. Some dominant males made harems, taking control over several female rats to mate with them.Some of the behaviors observed included: With time, the rats started to show bizarre conducts. The case was divided in four interconnected rooms able to hold a dozen rats each. As the rats were provided with food, water, nesting materials and protection from predators it was called "Utopia". Įvans detailed his experience of the community in the 2015 book The Utopia Experiment published by Picador.The first experiments were made between 19 using 32 to 56 Norwegian rats in a 10×14-foot case in a barn. The site is now used as the Culbokie Community Garden, with individual plots for local residents. They, however, wanted the community to continue and renamed it the Phoenix Experiment, under which name it continued for several years. After 4 weeks in a psychiatric hospital, he returned to the experiment to inform the volunteers that it was over. Evans was then detained under the Mental Health Act for his own safety.
He went to see a doctor who referred him to a psychiatrist. Īfter 10 months, Evans had become disillusioned with the project and concerned about his mental health. It was time-limited to 18 months, and was originally intended to serve as both a learning community (where everyone had a skill of knowledge they could teach the others) and a working community (where everyone would contribute by working). It involved a group of volunteers improvising a post-apocalyptic lifestyle. The Utopia Experiment was an experiment by Dylan Evans, set up in 2006 at Netherton Farm, near Culbokie on the Black Isle peninsula in the Scottish highlands. For other uses, see Utopian experiment (disambiguation).
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