Photo: Ivan Samkov

Why do rats laugh?

Rat laughs are normally too high-pitched for us to hear. Scientists found that rats laugh during rough-and-tumble play (AKA “playfighting”) and when tickled (AKA CUTE) They also found that rats laugh when they're excited, or anticipating something joyful happening, like being fed (same, honestly).

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Two words: Rats laugh.

And studying them tells us a ton about why we do, too.

We’ll give you a minute to process this information. Yes, it’s true, rats do actually laugh. And studying them tells us a ton about why we do, too. But before we get to that, some quick Rat Facts™: Rat laughs are normally too high-pitched for us to hear . To study them, scientists had to modulate the recordings way down. . To study them, scientists had to modulate the recordings way down. Scientists found that rats laugh during rough-and-tumble play (AKA “playfighting”) and when tickled (AKA CUTE) (AKA “playfighting”) (AKA CUTE) They also found that rats laugh when they’re excited, or anticipating something joyful happening, like being fed (same, honestly).

Why were scientists studying rodent laughter in the first place?

Well, they noticed laughing is one of the most “animal” sounds we make… so they started to study non-human examples of laughter While trying to understand how the brain processes emotions and social behavior, researchers Jaak Panksepp and Jeff Burgdorf found that these specific rat vocalizations were analogous to joy and laughter expressed by children during social play. They also found that rats that could no longer laugh (such as those with damaged vocal cords) were more likely to be attacked or bitten while playing because they couldn’t let other rats know they were still “play fighting,” not real fighting. Other chucklers in the wild include chimps, dolphins, and yes, dogs (when recordings of dog “laughter” were played for other pups, researchers noted, and we quote, “increased tail wagging” and other pro-social behavior).

Laughter isn’t just an involuntary noise

It can be, but we have to be super comfortable with someone to really let go and wheeze. In fact, most instances of laughing are social, or communicative. We’re much more likely to laugh with others than alone and we use “social” laughter to: Communicate that we’re non-threatening , as during play (think: the difference between texting a friend “I hate you” and “I hate you lol”) , as during play (think: the difference between texting a friend “I hate you” and “I hate you lol”) Comfort ourselves or others in uncomfortable situations in uncomfortable situations Show that we want to connect with someone (in a study of 1000+ instances of laughter, speakers in a conversation were found to be “46% more likely to laugh than the listeners.”)

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Is killing rats effective?

Killing rats is not an effective way of removing them from an area, and any killed will be replaced by others, the issues that attracted them are not addressed. Never buy poisons and traps for rats. Instead, adopt effective humane deterrence measures.

animalaid.org.uk - Rats - Animal Aid

It is commonly presumed that rats spread disease wherever they go – a belief that stems from the spread of the Black Death 700 years ago. In fact, researchers have recently found that the Black Death was not spread by rats at all but by human-to-human contact. Originally native to Asia, both brown and black rats can now be found all across the globe. They are highly intelligent, and have adapted to survive in many different habitats. Typically nocturnal, they live in small family groups, usually near to human habitation because of the ease of finding food. Black rats are one of the rarest mammals in the UK, but both they and the brown rat are routinely persecuted. Even some conservationists kill rats, even though black rats are rarer than the types of birds they say they are trying to help. Despite this, the media and pest control companies continue to spread fear about rats. It is true that rats – along with all animals, including humans – can carry and may spread disease. However, much of any threat can be eradicated with good personal hygiene and by keeping neighbourhoods clear of food and litter. Methods of killing rats are barbaric, with poisons taking up to nine days to kill the animals, who bleed internally and are conscious throughout. Killing rats is not an effective way of removing them from an area, and any killed will be replaced by others, the issues that attracted them are not addressed.