What you’ll see in pretty much every picture from this list is the pure relaxation that all the animals are getting from letting their body hang loose. Cats, dogs, and other creatures instinctively know how to pause, rest, and unwind. So, when they’re not facing any threat, they take the time to stretch, sunbathe, groom, and also dangle!
The best part of the r/Danglers community is that it pushes people to also try and relax in the same way these animals are doing. To learn more about the subreddit, Bored Panda reached out to u/WhichUsernameCanIUse, who is one of its moderators.
They told us: “I have two cats wonderful cats (a cow named Charlie and a void named Norit), but sadly they rarely dangle. I rescued this subreddit about a year and a half ago. The previous moderator wasn't active on Reddit anymore. I loved this subreddit before that, so when I noticed the spam and offtopic posts rising, I asked if I could moderate it, and I could! It has been a blast.”
Dangling isn’t a new phenomenon, it’s something that animals have always done in a variety of different ways. One man from Indiana, called Cameron Shoppach, took advantage of this and started the “dangle test” to boost animal adoptions at the shelter where he worked.
Known as the ‘Dangler in Chief,’ Cameron dangled cats and dogs in his arms to determine if they’d try to break free or just give in to the process. His videos soon went viral and prompted a lot of people to adopt these cute pets.
Pet owners and animal lovers flock to the ‘Danglers’ community to share joyful, weird, and cute photos of the creatures they come across. The community’s moderator told us that “this subreddit is so much fun and very wholesome. A lovely escape from the things going on. We all need that sometimes.”
“The people in this subreddit are the ones that make it so great, they are such wonderful people who understand the silly tone of this sub perfectly. We see lots of variation in dangles. Sometimes it's a paw, but we also get complete behinds, dangles gone wrong (oh, the poor animals), and sometimes animals that try but just don't get the dangle down.”
Having a community centered around joy is one of the best things possible. Also, seeing such cute animals can really help boost a person’s mood, which is definitely a plus.
Looking at adorable animals on the internet isn’t just a way to pass the time; research suggests that it can also make people more productive. Experimenters found that folks who viewed photos of cute animals outperformed those who were shown pictures of tasty food when it came to doing manual tasks.
Along with a possible productivity boost, viewing images of babies and animals has also been shown to have a positive effect on mental health and overall well-being. So, if you find yourself stuck scrolling through the ‘Danglers’ community, you know how to justify it!
Animals truly know how to kick back and take it easy, as you can clearly see from pretty much all of these pictures. The moderator who we reached out to also explained why all creatures like dangling so much.
They said: “Don't we all love to sit on a jetty in the summer with our legs over the edge and our feet in the water? Animals get that vibe a lot more than we do. It's the ultimate form of showing how chill they are. ‘Look at me! I can do this all day while you have to work to buy me food! Wheeee!’”
It’s time for us to also learn something from these dangling creatures and figure out how to relax like they do. Let us know if you’ve ever dangled like them before, and if you have, then you’ve got to share a picture of it!
