Animal games
Fox Pups
These fox pups are playing, but they are also practicing the hunting
skills they will use when they are grown.
Do you like to play tag? So do chimpanzees.
Chimpanzees chase each other in and out among trees and bushes,
screaming and chattering. They look as if they’re angry but they’re
really having fun. Sometimes, as if to start a game, a young chimpanzee
pinches another and runs away!
Seals love to play, too. They snort and bark and splash and play tag in
the water.
Chimpanzees, seals, and many other animals seem to play just for fun, as
you do. But when many baby animals play, they are learning things at the
same time. They are exercising their bodies and learning how to hunt.
Wolf cubs play by rushing at each other. They snap and growl and try to
knock each other down. When they are older, they hunt by running after
other animals and trying to knock them down.
Fox pups learn by playing, too. When one is lying down, another will
creep slowly toward it and jump on its tail. When they are grown, foxes
get food the same way, by creeping toward an animal and jumping upon it.
Many baby mammals play for fun and to learn things. But baby insects,
reptiles, amphibians, and fish never seem to play. They are too busy
trying to find food and trying to keep from being eaten.
