If you’re a pet owner, you probably find yourself giggling at your pets on the daily. For some reason, everything they do is just ten times cuter and ten times funnier than if a human did it. My heart melts every time I see my cat turn the sink on by himself, and the way he can transform the simplest object into an exciting game is adorable.
Animals are so fascinating, and we’re lucky that we get to share this amazing planet with them. Not only can they give us companionship, but they can also provide us with endless entertainment. And according to the BBC, many animals even play in similar ways to humans.
Kittens, for example, often play with one another through stalking, leaping, and biting. And while human children usually try not to hurt one another while playing, they often pretend that they’re battling in different games as well. They might even use toy weapons to wage imaginary wars on one another.
Meanwhile, birds of prey are often observed stalking inanimate objects, such as pine cones and twigs. They seem to be doing so just to play, rather than to protect themselves or catch their next meal. And dolphins have been known to blow air rings underwater that they appear to play with. They’ll chase them, hold them down, or seek them out, just like human kids will do with toys of their own.
Apparently, playing games can even help animals master their motor skills, in the same way that sports can help kids master theirs. Fish have been seen leaping over obstacles in the water when they could have easily just swam around them. Aside from perhaps doing this just for fun, it’s thought that these fish may be preparing for a moment when they’ll have to leap to avoid a predator. Even ants and wasps have been observed play-fighting with one another to ensure that they’re prepared to defend themselves later in life.
Something many human children love doing from a young age is playing with dolls. But did you know that young chimpanzees have been observed doing the same thing? Apparently, chimps in Uganda have been seen taking care of simple stick dolls in the same way that their mothers care for them. Interestingly, female chimps tend to gravitate towards toys like dolls, while their male peers tend to prefer more "masculine" toys, such as balls and trucks.
It’s not easy to say for certain whether or not animals have fun, but Professor David Toomey, author of Kingdom of Play, believes that they just might, considering how often they play. Toomey notes that when animals are observed exhibiting behaviors that have no obvious function or benefit, scientists are led to believe that they’re simply engaging in that activity because they enjoy it.
Observing and contemplating an animal’s behavior might even change the way you think about animals themselves, Sallie Tisdale writes for The Atlantic. “If we can conceive of an animal simply having fun, we can no longer see animals as mere objects,” she notes. “We are challenged to change the way we treat them, and a solemn responsibility is added to our dominion. Somersaulting may be good training for the unexpected, but I wonder: Why is it so hard to believe that exuberance is in itself a good [thing]?”
