# Do any other animals sleep more comfortably with neck pillows and do they ever fashion them in the wild?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-animals-sleep-more-comfortably-with-neck-pillows-and-do-they-ever-fashion-them-in-the-wild/961635
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [March 24, 2022, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-animals-sleep-more-comfortably-with-neck-pillows-and-do-they-ever-fashion-them-in-the-wild/961635 "2022-03-24T15:29:10Z")
**Posts on this page:** 15
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2022, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-animals-sleep-more-comfortably-with-neck-pillows-and-do-they-ever-fashion-them-in-the-wild/961635/1 "2022-03-24T15:29:10Z")
The human posture seems to require pillows in most sleeping positions to put the neck into a neutral position for the greatest comfort. However, it’s hard to think of any other animals where this is the case, most common animals seem to have regular sleeping positions that keep their neck neutral on flat ground.
Are there any animals that, if given a human pillow, have a strong preference for sleeping with it under their head for greater comfort? Are there any animals that routinely make pillows out of found material in the wild? I’m aware that many animals make some kind of soft bedding if they can but I’m asking specifically for animals that make bedding where there’s a pronounced hump (or divot) where their head rests.
If not, what is it about humans that make us so much less adapted to sleeping on flat ground than other animals?
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### Author:  [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2022, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-animals-sleep-more-comfortably-with-neck-pillows-and-do-they-ever-fashion-them-in-the-wild/961635/2 "2022-03-24T15:32:15Z")
House cats sure do seem to like pillows. Humans pillows, couch arms, other cats, occasionally even a human or a dog.
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### Author:  [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2022, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-animals-sleep-more-comfortably-with-neck-pillows-and-do-they-ever-fashion-them-in-the-wild/961635/3 "2022-03-24T15:40:07Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#):
>
> House cats sure do seem to like pillows.
Our dog will _sometimes_ sleep with his head on the pillow part of his dog bed.
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### Author:  [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2022, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-animals-sleep-more-comfortably-with-neck-pillows-and-do-they-ever-fashion-them-in-the-wild/961635/4 "2022-03-24T15:46:23Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#):
>
> If not, what is it about humans that make us so much less adapted to sleeping on flat ground than other animals?
Well, there is the position of the foramen magnum at the middle of the bottom of the skull instead of the back. (We have skulls “on top”—most animals have skulls “in front”.
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### Author:  [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2022, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-animals-sleep-more-comfortably-with-neck-pillows-and-do-they-ever-fashion-them-in-the-wild/961635/5 "2022-03-24T15:46:32Z")
My dogs will often sleep on my bed, with their head on the pillow.
I don’t know if that’s how they find it comfortable, or if they are imitating me, but it’s not something that happens by accident.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2022, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-animals-sleep-more-comfortably-with-neck-pillows-and-do-they-ever-fashion-them-in-the-wild/961635/6 "2022-03-24T16:01:09Z")
One of our dogs, Loki, loves having a pillow to sleep on. When I go to bed every so often my gf will be asleep, as will Loki, on my pillow. When I’m tired I’d rather not deal with rearranging things, so I’ll go to one of our spare bedrooms.
Half the time I’ll fall asleep in the spare bedroom, then Loki will join me there, using my legs as her pillow.
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### Author:  [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2022, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-animals-sleep-more-comfortably-with-neck-pillows-and-do-they-ever-fashion-them-in-the-wild/961635/7 "2022-03-24T16:04:18Z")
My dog likes pillows, as does one other dog in my informal dog share network. That still puts them in the minority of the roughly dozen dogs in the dog share.
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### Author:  [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2022, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-animals-sleep-more-comfortably-with-neck-pillows-and-do-they-ever-fashion-them-in-the-wild/961635/8 "2022-03-24T16:05:46Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#):
>
> House cats sure do seem to like pillows. Humans pillows, couch arms, other cats, occasionally even a human or a dog.
While this is true, they also seem just as happy on the sidewalk, on the hardwood living room floor, on top of the refrigerator, on the cold concrete basement floor, etc. They don’t really seem to have a major preference. Mine don’t, at least.
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### Author:  [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2022, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-animals-sleep-more-comfortably-with-neck-pillows-and-do-they-ever-fashion-them-in-the-wild/961635/9 "2022-03-24T16:22:50Z")
> [@DCnDC](#):
>
> They don’t really seem to have a major preference.
> **[40 Cats That Fell Asleep In The Weirdest Places (New Pics)](https://www.boredpanda.com/cats-sleeping-strange-places/)**
>
> Our furry friends have been spotted sleeping nearly anywhere. The locations speak for themselves—tissue boxes, wine glasses, winter shoes, terrariums, flower pots, and laundry racks. Scroll down for the best catnap sightings!
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### Author:  [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2022, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-animals-sleep-more-comfortably-with-neck-pillows-and-do-they-ever-fashion-them-in-the-wild/961635/10 "2022-03-24T16:28:11Z")
I’ve seen her sleep with her head on a pillow, & other times I’ve seen her sleep with her body on the dog bed & her head not on the bed but on the lower, hardwood floors. Go figger.
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### Author:  [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2022, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-animals-sleep-more-comfortably-with-neck-pillows-and-do-they-ever-fashion-them-in-the-wild/961635/11 "2022-03-24T16:35:52Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#):
>
> If not, what is it about humans that make us so much less adapted to sleeping on flat ground than other animals?
Like **Darren\_Garrison** pointed out, anatomy.
A huge noggin on a thin neck attached to the bottom of said noggin makes sleeping hard.
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### Author:  [@2\_More\_Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2_More_Bits)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2022, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-animals-sleep-more-comfortably-with-neck-pillows-and-do-they-ever-fashion-them-in-the-wild/961635/12 "2022-03-24T19:20:43Z")
What do our simian cousins do?
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### Author:  [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2022, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-animals-sleep-more-comfortably-with-neck-pillows-and-do-they-ever-fashion-them-in-the-wild/961635/13 "2022-03-24T19:25:23Z")
A couple of mine live in Vegas, and – IIRC – they’re pillow people, too.
Oh. Wait.
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### Author:  [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2022, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-animals-sleep-more-comfortably-with-neck-pillows-and-do-they-ever-fashion-them-in-the-wild/961635/14 "2022-03-24T19:44:38Z")
> [@2\_More\_Bits](#):
>
> What do our simian cousins do?
As far as the aforementioned anatomy issue, they don’t have it.
> **[Anthropologists confirm link between cranial anatomy and two-legged walking](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130926111903.htm)**
>
> Anthropologists confirm a direct link between upright two-legged (bipedal) walking and the position of the foramen magnum, a hole in the base of the skull that transmits the spinal cord.
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### Author:  [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)
#### Post date: [March 29, 2022, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-other-animals-sleep-more-comfortably-with-neck-pillows-and-do-they-ever-fashion-them-in-the-wild/961635/15 "2022-03-29T15:27:21Z")
my dog even moves around pillows on the couch before he sleeps on them