I firmly believe that animals have emotions. I’ve observed pets in mourning after the recent death of another pet. I’ve seen the love between mother dogs and her pups. I know they feel anger and fear at times.
But what about humor? Of all the cats, dogs, rabbits, birds, and fish I’ve had as pets, I can say many had a sense of what was “fun” (like a cat playing with a ball) but I wonder if they have the equivalent to a sense of humor. One of our dogs was rather quiet (a Golden Retriever) but one day my mother slipped on the ice and fell right on her can. That dog ran around her howling into the air. I would have swore he was “laughing” at her. Is it possible that he was?
I used to have a horse that would steal a hat off of your head and run with it. I am sure he thought it was as comical as I did.
I also used to have a parrot that would laugh at you. She would play tug o’ war and laugh when you let go and let her win. Sometimes the goofy bird would hide, then jump out at someone coming down the hall and laugh as the unsuspecting victim bounced off the wall on the other side.
I would have to say that yes, animals definitelycan have a sense of humor.
My macaw absolutely has a sense of humor. He laughs (used to sound like my laugh, but it’s mutated of late) when he’s tricked somebody or startled someone. The 'keet doesn’t seem to, though.
The dog does too, I think, but not much of one. Still, she does seem to get amused more than anything when she’s gotten away with something funny. (Of course, this dog can give better “eat sh*t and die” looks than any I’ve ever known, and that’s going pretty far.)
I’ve not really noticed much humor in the cats. I’m sure they have something that they use for one, but I suspect it’s far too rarified for mere humans to comprehend.
I’ve known horses that seemed ot have a sense of humor and loved to play tricks.
A while back I was “talking” to a neighbor’s dog behind a fenced-in yard before I set off on my run, wearing, as is my wont, a cap. It was a golden retriever, and he snatched the cap from head and lay it in the yard where I couldn’t get it, since the gate was locked. He had a good laugh at that.
I don’t know who it was, the Greeks, Aristotle, I believe, that the difference that marks mankind off from the rest of the animal world is our sense of risibility. Whoever said it was dead wrong. Well, maybe cats don’t. They’re pretty stoic and independent.
Most mammals “play” (especially when young as a way to learn important skills) which can be a sense of fun. Offhand, I can only picture apes/monkeys having an actual sense of humor…but I would not doubt the possibility of other animals having a sense of humor. I suspect that humor is very limited in the animal world other than a few species. I would guess that humor would also be limited to social-grouped animals.
If scatology is humor, then the elephants at the Buffalo Zoo certainly may have had it in spades in the late '70’s.
According to a (out of the line of sight of the “elephant room”) zoo employee, they loved throwing poop at tourists. As we were being warned, the room behind him erupted in a roar. The employee said that was someone getting tagged. Sure enough, someone came running out, holding her arm, with a very disgusted look on her face.
An angry reaction to captivity, perhaps, but their trumpeting when they scored a “hit” sure sounded like laughter to me.
Perhaps most impressively, the warning sign inside the entrance was completely covered, as if the elephants were aiming at it. I wonder if they could read, too.
My cat,Fluffy, used to make a low moan like she had a hair ball sometimes. I’d go in to see if she was okay and she’d take off.
Fluffy’s sense of humor was more low key. She’d look at you like she was constantly amused.
Another thing she liked to do when we were crate training our dog was to sit in front of the crate while Lassie was in there, and the dog would bark and bark and Fluffy would sit just out of reach.
See this clip. This convinces me that animals have a sense of humor. One of the funniest things I’ve seen in my life, primarily because of the comedian who delivers the punchline…a baby chimp!
Misty is our little kleptomaniac kitty. She’s ALWAYS stealing hair clips, necklaces, and little knicknacks and carrying them downstairs in her mouth, only to just leave them on the floor.