This contains unusal examples of animals playing. I don’t think there’s any dog that dogs play similar to the way we do - performing activities with no ultimate “point” other than deriving pleasure from the activity. We’ve certainly evolved to enjoy play, probably because it acts as practice for future life-saving endeavors, but that’s not why we play. We play because it is fun, not because we’re intentionally practicing for some future event. So that’s what I mean by play here.
So I’m not including videos of dogs chasing balls. Not because it’s not play but because it’s so commonplace. However, when a cow does the same thing… that’s a lot more interesting. And only because it’s not something I’ve seen as much. So, what animals like to play?
Chimp Playing Ping Pong
FAKE WARNING!!! I believe this one is fake, although I must say it’s very good.
Dog Playing Jenga
This one is much longer… I’ll upload the rest at some point. I’m actually not clear how much this is play… is the dog enjoying it? Or is it doing it because it wants to please its owner. I’m not asking if it’s been trained - obviously the answer is “yes”, but now that the dog knows the game, is it playing it? It’s the difference between asking a dog to sit (result of training but not considered playing) and having a dog chase a tennis ball and drop it at the owner’s feet (result of training and still considered playing)
This dog is an Australian Shepherd named Secret. He’s able to do all sorts of interesting things. I recomend checking out his Instagram page to see more. Buzzfeed highlighted some of the best videos.
Note: Sped up 3X
Cat Skateboarding
Dog Skateboarding
This is I find more interesting because the dog really leans into the turn to get around that bend. Very impressive work.
Note: Sped up 2X
Dog Playing Volleyball
I want this dog.
Note: 2X Speed up
Deer Playing with Soccer Ball
It really looks like the deer has watched humans play soccer, somehow learned that the goal is to put the ball in the goal, and that it’s appropriate to celebrate afterwards. This is one of those examples where it certainly looks like the deer is intentionlly doing exactly what human do, and then celebrating afterwards, but it’s not conclusive in my opinion. This is the kind of thing I would like to see lots more examples of.
Dog Turtle Game
Here’s one of those situations where it’s really hard to know what’s going on inside the animal’s head. Clearly the dog is playing a game and the turtle’s actions are consistent with the game, but is it playing? Is the turtle having fun? Is that a turtle thing to do? Or is it something like the ball looks like food, and the turtle is trying to eat it (or do something else completely dissimilar to playing) and it just looks like playing?
Cat Using a Toy to Play
Who needs others when you have a cat toy?
Spectacled bear jumping with child
Is this play? Not really sure. Maybe this should go under immitation.
