I disagree:

#!/usr/bin/perl -w

use strict;

package Obj;

sub new {
    bless({}, $_[0]);
}

sub can {
    my $self = shift;
    warn "Called can in Obj.n";
    $self->SUPER::can(@_);
}

package main;

my $o = Obj->new();
print $o->can('new'), "\n", UNIVERSAL::can($o, 'new'), "\n";
[download]

And just to be dangerous (it's cheaper than a motorcycle):

package UNIVERSAL;

sub new {
    bless({}, $_[0]);
}

sub loop {
    my $self = shift;
    $self->SUPER::loop();
}

package main;
Universal->new->loop();
[download]

Try to catch this before it eats up your memory.