Scientists estimate that there are approximately 7.8 million animal species on the planet. So while your go-to response to “What’s your favorite animal?” might be, “Dog, of course!” It’s likely that there are millions of animals out there that you’ve never even heard of! From birds hanging out high in the mountaintops to monkeys playing in the rain forest, we are lucky to share the Earth with so many amazing creatures.
While it’s clear from this list that humans often find animals’ behavior amusing, it’s possible that they find their own behavior pretty entertaining at times too. The BBC published a piece in 2024 discussing certain species that seem to have evolved to have a sense of humor. For example, one study found that apes have been observed teasing one another and exhibiting behavior similar to how human children play.
Even dogs might have senses of humor, which you might already know if you’ve had plenty of furry friends over the years. In fact, Charles Darwin proposed this idea in The Descent of Man when he wrote about how they play.
“If a bit of stick or other such object be thrown to one, he will often carry it away for a short distance; and then squatting down with it on the ground close before him, will wait until his master comes quite close to take it away,” Darwin explained. “The dog will then seize it and rush away in triumph, repeating the same maneuver, and evidently enjoying the practical joke."
Would you believe that rats enjoy a good laugh as well? Apparently, Jeffrey Burgdorf, research associate professor at Northwestern University, has observed that rats seem to let out a high-pitched squeak, which sounds quite similar to a giggle, when they’re tickled. They even come back again and again to get more tickles, which can be used as reward for playing hide and seek. Burgdorf even says that the rats he works with are the most attentive when they’re letting out “giggles.”
There’s no doubt that animals look at humans from time to time and wonder what the heck we’re up to. I’m sure my cat doesn’t understand why I have to sit at a computer for 8 hours a day while I work from home, and he has no idea why I find it so frustrating when he knocks my decorations off the shelves. But if you’re interested in some other amusing behaviors animals have exhibited, Live Science has compiled a wild list of strange things animals have been caught doing.
One entertaining thing that dolphins have been observed doing is “raiding crab pots.” In Western Australia, fishermen noticed that the fish they used as bait to lure in crabs was being snatched by dolphins before they could catch anything. And when the fishers tried to hide the bait underneath the pots, dolphins would simply flip them over. Boxes didn’t work either, as the dolphins figured out how to break into them. Eventually, the fishers managed to come up with a dolphin-proof design, but it wasn't easy!
Land animals can be just as amusing as sea creatures, though. Apparently, an elephant at the Berlin Zoo has managed to learn how to peel bananas without any opposable thumbs. She’s also smart enough to know which ones taste best, as keepers at the zoo noted that she’ll only eat green and yellow bananas, while completely rejecting brown ones. I mean, everybody knows that those are best for banana bread, which she, presumably, can’t make herself.
