# Is humor exclusive to humans? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 19, 2005, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-humor-exclusive-to-humans/331741 "2005-11-19T00:37:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![zoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71c47a/32.png) [@zoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoo)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-humor-exclusive-to-humans/331741/1 "2005-11-19T00:37:18Z")
Does humor separate us from other animals? I don’t think my dog has a sense of humor, but do primates or any others have any idea of what is funny? ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-humor-exclusive-to-humans/331741/2 "2005-11-19T00:48:45Z")
Well, arguing whether dogs have a sense of humor is a pretty big debate not for this thread, but I believe sure most mammals have a sense of humor, why wouldn’t they? It’s proving to be very difficult to google this since the world seems to be overrun by bad joke sites. I’ll wait for more informed posters to offer some cites on the subject. ---
**Author:** ![deevee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@deevee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deevee)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-humor-exclusive-to-humans/331741/3 "2005-11-19T00:51:54Z")
Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo has a button that allows the chimps to give unsuspecting gawkers on the other side of the glass an unsuspected blast of air. The bigger the rise they get out of the humans the more they enjoy it. Sure it’s slapstick but they are chimps after all. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-humor-exclusive-to-humans/331741/4 "2005-11-19T00:52:26Z")
Without the ability to communicate with animals, I’m not quite sure how you’d decide. Play can be said to be related to humor, and certain animals engage in what is hard to interpret as anything but play. I’ve seen pictures of ravens repeatedly sliding downhill on snow. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-humor-exclusive-to-humans/331741/5 "2005-11-19T01:01:04Z")
I’m not sure about humor, but bears have found it entertaining to roll rocks down on hikers (in Russia IIRC). ---
**Author:** ![zoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71c47a/32.png) [@zoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoo)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-humor-exclusive-to-humans/331741/6 "2005-11-19T01:15:12Z")
The chimp with the air button seems like a good example of what I was looking for. Humor has many levels of sophistication. Do bears and raccoons think things are funny? ---
**Author:** ![MessyPaint](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@MessyPaint](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MessyPaint)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-humor-exclusive-to-humans/331741/7 "2005-11-19T01:20:52Z")
great question, i dont know any definite answer, but this cat in our woodshop seems to love doing things she knows will make us laugh, whenever you set your cell phone down on a table- she darts into the room and knocks it onto the floor, everyone gets a chuckle from the irony… whether this is connected to humour or something else i dont know, but personally i think she likes to see me smile 😉 ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-humor-exclusive-to-humans/331741/8 "2005-11-19T01:29:43Z")
Does general “having fun” count? Because all you have to do is observe a group of river otters for a couple of hours to have absolutely no doubt that most of what they do is for fun. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-humor-exclusive-to-humans/331741/9 "2005-11-19T04:00:57Z")
I you don’t think animals have a sense of humor, Ccearly you have not seen my wife’s cat try to surpress his laughter when my wife is dressed to go to aerobics class. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-humor-exclusive-to-humans/331741/10 "2005-11-19T04:03:34Z")
should read “If you don’t…” ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-humor-exclusive-to-humans/331741/11 "2005-11-19T04:40:38Z")
I’m pretty sure my ferret, Frettchen, has a sense of humour. When ferrets get happy or excited, they do a peculiar dance consisting of backwards and sideways hops accompanied by a sort of chuckling. I was apartment-sitting in Lausanne last spring and our building had a lot of cats in it. After coming back from our daily walk in the park, there would usually be a cat or two sitting with its back turned to us in the building parking lot. Frettchen immediately went into “stalk mode”, quietly creeping up behind the cat until she was just behind it. Then she’d suddenly leap onto the cat’s back, making it howl and bolt in surprise. Frettchen found this infinitely amusing and would do her little happy dance for about two whole minutes. She might also have a more wry sense of humour, but it’s possible that I’m projecting. She normally sleeps in a basket on a chair next to me. Every once in a while she’ll wake up, push her basket off the chair, and then look at me as if to say, “Are you going to pick that up or what?” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-humor-exclusive-to-humans/331741/12 "2005-11-19T04:51:07Z")
I have to point this out. My dog likes to play hide and seek before bed, but not every night. When he’s tired, he’ll let me pick him up and put him in bed. When he’s not so tired, he likes to play chase, he hides under the bed and has me try to catch him, he’ll grab my underwear, and put them on his head and run around the house that way, while I try to catch him and put him to bed. Now THAT is a sense of humour. ---
**Author:** ![zoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71c47a/32.png) [@zoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoo)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-humor-exclusive-to-humans/331741/13 "2005-11-19T14:13:12Z")
Thank you all for your thoughtful replies. Where is the line between fun and funny? Do any animals think a fart is amusing? ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-humor-exclusive-to-humans/331741/14 "2005-11-19T14:50:04Z")
> [@deevee](#): > > Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo has a button that allows the chimps to give unsuspecting gawkers on the other side of the glass an unsuspected blast of air. The bigger the rise they get out of the humans the more they enjoy it. Sure it’s slapstick but they are chimps after all. That’s too cool. I had never heard that before. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-humor-exclusive-to-humans/331741/15 "2005-11-19T15:19:23Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > … he’ll grab my underwear, and put them on his head and run around the house that way, while I try to catch him and put him to bed. > > Now THAT is a sense of humour. It’s a stretch to suggest that something that amuses YOU is the same thing as an animal having a sense of humor. In general, it seems to me that a sense of humor relates to appreciating the irony in a situation, or at least the unexpected. A dog running around the house, getting attention and warm, appreciative smiles and laughter from you can be interpreted as a moderately intelligent animal learning to please its master. Clearly, an enjoyable aspect of a dog’s life, but in my opinion, not evidence of a sense of humor. Now, if he had first asked for his pipe and slippers, and then began acting silly, well, THAT’S show business. ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-humor-exclusive-to-humans/331741/16 "2005-11-19T18:49:59Z")
No. Animals laugh at us each day. I mean after all, who has more free time? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-humor-exclusive-to-humans/331741/17 "2005-11-19T19:01:18Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > I have to point this out. > > My dog likes to play hide and seek before bed, but not every night. When he’s tired, he’ll let me pick him up and put him in bed. When he’s not so tired, he likes to play chase, he hides under the bed and has me try to catch him, he’ll grab my underwear, and put them on his head and run around the house that way, while I try to catch him and put him to bed. > > Now THAT is a sense of humour. I wanna be your dog! ---
**Author:** ![EvilGhandi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@EvilGhandi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilGhandi)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-humor-exclusive-to-humans/331741/18 "2005-11-20T00:11:09Z")
Don’t know if this: [http://www.ebaumsworld.com/monkeyvstiger.html](http://www.ebaumsworld.com/monkeyvstiger.html) Guy has a sense of humor, but he sems to be having fun. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-humor-exclusive-to-humans/331741/19 "2005-11-20T00:52:02Z")
> [@CC](#): > > Clearly, an enjoyable aspect of a dog’s life, but in my opinion, not evidence of a sense of humor. Dude (if you’re a dude) he puts my _underwear_ on his _head_. Not a t-shirt. Not a sock. Not a scarf of somesort. _UNDERWEAR_. I’m sorry - that’s funny shit. Particularly when he peeks out the leg hole and winks. ---
**Author:** ![jocularjason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b2d939/32.png) [@jocularjason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jocularjason)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-humor-exclusive-to-humans/331741/20 "2005-11-20T02:13:16Z")
My cat has recently developed the habit of sitting on my computer keyboard in the morning, often times making alot of repeating boing and eep noises. I can’t help feeling that she has a smirk on her face when I lumber out of bed dreary eyed to knock her off the thing. I suppose part of her thinks it’s funny. And what’s humor if not the age old pastime of watching someone elses misery. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-humor-exclusive-to-humans/331741.md?page=2)