# People like stories. Children like stories. Are there any animals which like stories, too? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 23, 2017, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-like-stories-children-like-stories-are-there-any-animals-which-like-stories-too/794480 "2017-08-23T19:19:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Some_Call_Me.Tim)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-like-stories-children-like-stories-are-there-any-animals-which-like-stories-too/794480/21 "2017-08-24T02:29:51Z")
> [@P-man](#): > > That happens to be our dog’s name. Some people say she understands English, but play ball, walk, and dog food are the only ones I’d bet on. Yeah, my parents had a dog that understood the word walk. His excitement level went way up when that word was spoken, and his disappointment was obvious if a walk was not forthcoming. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-like-stories-children-like-stories-are-there-any-animals-which-like-stories-too/794480/22 "2017-08-24T02:41:20Z")
My first dog not only understood the word “walk”, but also “stroll”, “hike”, “trek”, “constitutional”, “excursion”, “perambulation”, and every other synonym we tried. Nor was it just a matter of reacting to the way we talked to him, because he’d go crazy even if he heard us using those words on the phone. ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-like-stories-children-like-stories-are-there-any-animals-which-like-stories-too/794480/23 "2017-08-24T03:36:41Z")
What is story telling? At it’s basic it’s recalling events from the past and telling them to another in the present. you can tell a story through sound, you can tell a story through movement. Of course animals do this. To use the example of honeybees brought up in this thread. The bee doing the telling is remembering the event of finding food; where it was, what it was, and how much there was - among other things. And the other bees take a keen interest in this telling, they are vey much intersted in the details; which is another way of saying they are enjoying the story. Do bees “retell” their stories? I don’t know, but it wouldn’t surprise me. Birds sing and other birds are keenly interested in these songs, prairie dog barks include an incredible amount of information and other dogs take interest, many animals species tell stories to rapt audiences. Some primates sing or hum to each other while they are grooming and other bonding rituals. Songs are considered the first step in storytelling in human evolution. Do animals tell fictitious stories? I don’t see why not. Why do humans “make up” stories? they are trying to communicate something. We know animals communicate; why wouldn’t they “tell stories?” We know animals are interested in receiving communication, Why wouldn’t they enjoy “hearing” a story? > [@Colibri](#): > > That would be highly counterproductive, since it would cause the other bees to go off looking for flowers where they were before but probably are no longer. > > Certainly bees and other insects don’t have the capacity for anything like this. > [@Colibri](#): > > They don’t do that. That’s certain. You seem quite sure of yourself and yet provide no evidence. You may feel that this is a self evident conclusion, but I don’t. mc ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-like-stories-children-like-stories-are-there-any-animals-which-like-stories-too/794480/24 "2017-08-24T04:14:04Z")
I have had (and still have) birds that will sit and listen with great attention when I talk to them. I could tell them a story and they’d probably enjoy it. I could also probably recite the phone book to them and they’d enjoy it (possibly more, if I let them shred the pages of the phone book while I talk to them). So, to the extent they like to listen to people they’d like a story, but I don’t think they’d be following the narrative. I could just go “la-la-la-la-la” and they’d enjoy that, too. ---
**Author:** ![Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Some_Call_Me.Tim)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-like-stories-children-like-stories-are-there-any-animals-which-like-stories-too/794480/25 "2017-08-24T15:00:22Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > My first dog not only understood the word “walk”, but also “stroll”, “hike”, “trek”, “constitutional”, “excursion”, “perambulation”, and every other synonym we tried. Nor was it just a matter of reacting to the way we talked to him, because he’d go crazy even if he heard us using those words on the phone. We’d spell out the word walk to avoid the reaction. Toward the end of his life he started to suspect something when the letters were spoken, but the reaction was far muted. I think he only got as far as a tentative, mild suspicion that something was up. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-like-stories-children-like-stories-are-there-any-animals-which-like-stories-too/794480/26 "2017-08-24T17:21:06Z")
Are there other creatures which relate information like bees? That is, communicate a sequence of information to transfer knowledge to others? Many seem to have single bits of information they can communicate–like a certain type of chirp means a predator is nearby–but I can’t think of anything that’s like a sequence. Some birds are quite intelligent and can figure out multi-part puzzles (open a box to get rocks, drop rocks into a water bottle to float a stick, take the stick and poke in a hole to get food). Do they ever tell those steps to other birds? Obviously, if a bird watches a bird solve the puzzle they learn how it’s done, but are there instances of a bird pantomiming the steps to show another bird how it’s done? ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-like-stories-children-like-stories-are-there-any-animals-which-like-stories-too/794480/27 "2017-08-24T17:37:37Z")
With my dog the words, walk, ride, mail, deer stand, trash all get him excited and he knows which way we will probably go or which vehicle he should head for. I assume most people who grew up around dogs has done the ‘good dog’ in a bad voice and ‘bad dog’ in a good voice to see if they can tell the difference. I sing little rhyme’s I make up on the spot as I brush him. Well, we consider it singing but most humans would not. The cats understand , ‘food, food, food.’ Dog does not react. Dog understands, groceries, groceries’ and the cats do not react. Wife says the same words and gets the same reactions. Dog does guard duty and at night especially his barking does not bother us because we can tell by the bark what he is alerting to. A lazy ‘what is going on question to the neighbor dogs’ ‘deer in the yard’ ‘raccoon or possum treed or skunk trapped in a hole and I am about to get skunked so come help me’ ‘people walking on the road’ ‘car coming up the driveway’ ‘unknown human coming on foot’ We rarely get it wrong. So it waking us up usually only happens when it is something we need to get up to check on. Growling & a certain bark = we come up combat ready with weapons in hand going into predetermined & practiced positions. Cats don’t make much noise except when fighting among themselves but being aware of what, how they are moving or not moving, where they are looking all gives an amazing amount of information. ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-like-stories-children-like-stories-are-there-any-animals-which-like-stories-too/794480/28 "2017-08-24T17:39:19Z")
[prairie dogs](http://www.johnpratt.com/items/docs/lds/meridian/2005/prairie_dog.html) > [@](#): > > Prairie dogs have the ability to use nouns and modifiers, and even coin new “words.” Their barks clearly distinguish between dogs and coyotes, and can include sounds for concepts such as size and color. and [maybe alot more species](http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/281/1792/20141370#sec-6) than we previously thought. > [@](#): > > Many animals produce vocal sequences that appear complex. Most researchers assume that these sequences are well characterized as Markov chains (i.e. that the probability of a particular vocal element can be calculated from the history of only a finite number of preceding elements). . . We examined vocal sequences of seven taxa: Bengalese finches Lonchura striata domestica, Carolina chickadees Poecile carolinensis, free-tailed bats Tadarida brasiliensis, rock hyraxes Procavia capensis, pilot whales Globicephala macrorhynchus, killer whales Orcinus orca and orangutans Pongo spp. The vocal systems of most of these species are more consistent with a non-Markovian RP than with the Markovian models traditionally assumed. Our data suggest that non-Markovian vocal sequences may be more common than Markov sequences, ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-like-stories-children-like-stories-are-there-any-animals-which-like-stories-too/794480/29 "2017-08-24T17:53:23Z")
> [@mikecurtis](#): > > You seem quite sure of yourself and yet provide no evidence. You may feel that this is a self evident conclusion, but I don’t. > > mc Fine. You’re the one making an assertion about what animals do. It’s incumbent on the one making the claim to provide evidence for it. All you are doing is “telling stories” yourself, based on no evidence. ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-like-stories-children-like-stories-are-there-any-animals-which-like-stories-too/794480/30 "2017-08-24T17:57:54Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > Are there other creatures which relate information like bees? That is, communicate a sequence of information to transfer knowledge to others? Many seem to have single bits of information they can communicate–like a certain type of chirp means a predator is nearby–but I can’t think of anything that’s like a sequence. > > Some birds are quite intelligent and can figure out multi-part puzzles (open a box to get rocks, drop rocks into a water bottle to float a stick, take the stick and poke in a hole to get food). Do they ever tell those steps to other birds? Obviously, if a bird watches a bird solve the puzzle they learn how it’s done, but are there instances of a bird pantomiming the steps to show another bird how it’s done? Birds use a combo of sound and action The sound appears general like hey watch or hey listen Its the action that is descriptive. Watch a mother teach the babies to eat or hunt etc. Birds are after all, highly intelligent little theropods ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-like-stories-children-like-stories-are-there-any-animals-which-like-stories-too/794480/31 "2017-08-24T18:06:23Z")
> [@mikecurtis](#): > > You seem quite sure of yourself and yet provide no evidence. You may feel that this is a self evident conclusion, but I don’t. > > mc Colibri is a well-respected expert in the field so I’d use **him** as a cite in a discussion if I could. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![brainstall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@brainstall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brainstall)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-like-stories-children-like-stories-are-there-any-animals-which-like-stories-too/794480/32 "2017-08-24T18:13:21Z")
Sometimes if I have gone out and only taken one dog with me, when we get home, the other dogs will give him a quick, but definite sniff. I wonder if they are getting the story of where he’s been and what he’s done through the odours that cling to him. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-like-stories-children-like-stories-are-there-any-animals-which-like-stories-too/794480/33 "2017-08-24T18:15:24Z")
Some interesting info on the “waggle dance” in [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waggle_dance). There seems to be little controversy about its existence and it seems like the dance can be accurately “translated”. But it’s pretty simple, it just gives a direction and distance toward a resource, and calling it “language” is a stretch. It doesn’t seem much more complicated than pointing at something, which we know many animals are capable of doing. It definitely falls short of “telling a story”. A dog can whimper to convey that they are hurt/upset, or growl to warn, or wag its tail to show happiness, but none of that is telling a story either. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-like-stories-children-like-stories-are-there-any-animals-which-like-stories-too/794480/34 "2017-08-24T18:33:34Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Some interesting info on the “waggle dance” in [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waggle_dance). > > There seems to be little controversy about its existence and it seems like the dance can be accurately “translated”. But it’s pretty simple, it just gives a direction and distance toward a resource, and calling it “language” is a stretch. It doesn’t seem much more complicated than pointing at something, which we know many animals are capable of doing. > > It definitely falls short of “telling a story”. A dog can whimper to convey that they are hurt/upset, or growl to warn, or wag its tail to show happiness, but none of that is telling a story either. “Telling a story” in human terms does not mean simply conveying information. In the sense used by the OP, it means imparting information _for the purpose of entertainment_. That is, the information is an end in itself. Animals communicate information, but it’s for a purpose, in order to elicit a specific response in the recipient, such as finding food or avoiding a predator. Some responses here are redefining “telling a story” in order to fit the more limited things that animals do, rather than providing evidence that animals “tell stories” for the purposes that humans do. ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-like-stories-children-like-stories-are-there-any-animals-which-like-stories-too/794480/35 "2017-08-24T18:36:50Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Colibri is a well-respected expert in the field so I’d use **him** as a cite in a discussion if I could. 🙂 Expert in which field? I’m sure the op would love to be enlightened (as would I) if s/he has knowledge. But a “certainly not” does nothing to fight ignorance. > [@Atamasama](#): > > Some interesting info on the “waggle dance” in [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waggle_dance). > > There seems to be little controversy about its existence and it seems like the dance can be accurately “translated”. But it’s pretty simple, it just gives a direction and distance toward a resource, and calling it “language” is a stretch. It doesn’t seem much more complicated than pointing at something, which we know many animals are capable of doing. > > It definitely falls short of “telling a story”. A dog can whimper to convey that they are hurt/upset, or growl to warn, or wag its tail to show happiness, but none of that is telling a story either. how does communicating something fall short of telling a story? Communicating information, even using primitive gestures and using only facts is still story telling. it doesn’t have to be Dr. Zhivago to be a story. Your dog is absolutely telling a story with a whimper. Trying to evoke an emotional response in your audience is the essence of storytelling! mc ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-like-stories-children-like-stories-are-there-any-animals-which-like-stories-too/794480/36 "2017-08-24T18:42:22Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Atamasama** : > > It doesn’t seem much more complicated than pointing at something, which we know many animals are capable of doing. Remarkably few, actually. Humans and most dogs instinctively understand pointing, and that’s about it. The other great apes can be taught, but only with difficulty. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-like-stories-children-like-stories-are-there-any-animals-which-like-stories-too/794480/37 "2017-08-24T18:42:37Z")
> [@mikecurtis](#): > > Expert in which field? I’m sure the op would love to be enlightened (as would I) if s/he has knowledge. But a “certainly not” does nothing to fight ignorance. I have a Ph.D. in biology and 45 years experience in the field. Even more important, I hold the office of “Straight Dope Curator of Critters” by appointment of Cecil himself.😉 > [@](#): > > how does communicating something fall short of telling a story? Communicating information, even using primitive gestures and using only facts is still story telling. it doesn’t have to be Dr. Zhivago to be a story. Your dog is absolutely telling a story with a whimper. Trying to evoke an emotional response in your audience is the essence of storytelling! > > mc No it isn’t. As I said, you are attempting to redefine “story telling” to fit what animals do, rather than providing evidence that animals tell stories the way humans do. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-like-stories-children-like-stories-are-there-any-animals-which-like-stories-too/794480/38 "2017-08-24T18:46:47Z")
> [@mikecurtis](#): > > Expert in which field? I’m sure the op would love to be enlightened (as would I) if s/he has knowledge. But a “certainly not” does nothing to fight ignorance. Colibri is an ornithologist and a general animal expert, a member of the Straight Dope Science Advisory Board, and has written (or been quoted in) a number of Straight Dope articles over the years. (Go to this site’s main page and search for “Colibri”.) > [@](#): > > how does communicating something fall short of telling a story? Communicating information, even using primitive gestures and using only facts is still story telling. it doesn’t have to be Dr. Zhivago to be a story. Your dog is absolutely telling a story with a whimper. Trying to evoke an emotional response in your audience is the essence of storytelling! > > mc Google “definition of story” and you’ll see multiple dictionary definitions that show that a “story” needs to be more than conveying information. You have to present a narrative of an event. You’re using a nonstandard version of the word “story”. In addition, it helps to frame your argument in the context of the OP, where specifically it was using that narrative for purposes of entertainment. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-like-stories-children-like-stories-are-there-any-animals-which-like-stories-too/794480/39 "2017-08-24T19:06:42Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > “Telling a story” in human terms does not mean simply conveying information. In the sense used by the OP, it means imparting information _for the purpose of entertainment_. That is, the information is an end in itself. Animals communicate information, but it’s for a purpose, in order to elicit a specific response in the recipient, such as finding food or avoiding a predator. I would agree that this is what I meant in the OP. I used the bees since it’s the most story-like behavior I know of, but I wouldn’t consider the dance to be a story since it’s imparting real-time information in the present. If they later retold the dance, that would be more like a story. As an example, imagine a group of early hunters planning a hunt. Even without spoken language, they could pantomime the strategy for the hunt (use hand signals to indicate who goes where, how to strike, etc). I wouldn’t consider that a story. But afterwards if they were back at the camp and they pantomimed how the hunt went (one person pretended to be the animal, the rest the hunters), I would consider that a story. It just seems that the way humans enjoy stories is so strong and universal, I would think that a similar behavior would be found in other types of animals. ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-like-stories-children-like-stories-are-there-any-animals-which-like-stories-too/794480/40 "2017-08-24T19:08:07Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I have a Ph.D. in biology and 45 years experience in the field. Even more important, I hold the office of “Straight Dope Curator of Critters” by appointment of Cecil himself.😉 I didn’t know that. Sorry. > [@](#): > > No it isn’t. As I said, you are attempting to redefine “story telling” to fit what animals do, rather than providing evidence that animals tell stories the way humans do. here’s where my expertise comes in. I have a masters in theater and 35 yrs in the field. a story can be told with language, movement, drawing, etc. It can be complex or it can be incredibly primitive . . .to pigeonhole storytelling to what you think it is, is incorrect. I don’t know what goes through the mind of a bee during the waggle dance, whether or not they “enjoy” doing it or watching it, or even if they understand that they are “telling stories” but I am not redefining anything by pointing out that purposefully or not, they are telling stories. And this is how we humans started “telling stories” as well. mc ps this website and it’s advertisements are making it unbearably frustrating to respond to posts - constantly scrolling to the bottom of the page to play the same ad over and over again. so i may not be able to continue this discussion. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-like-stories-children-like-stories-are-there-any-animals-which-like-stories-too/794480.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-like-stories-children-like-stories-are-there-any-animals-which-like-stories-too/794480.md?page=3)