For Western children, Christmas is the single most important time of "make-believe", for American adults there are two dates, Independence Day and Halloween, but that's another story.
Do other mammals do make-believe?
Some do. Our cats do.
They know that the mice we bring home from the pet store are not real. Which does not prevent them from enjoying the fake mice. Same with the laser pointer. Once they saw that the laser dot on the floor was controlled by a human, they stopped reacting to the dot. Any further attempt by the human to tease them with a laser pointer only elicited a response that, in human terms, is clearly a "dirty look".
Last night, they were tearing around the house. The Cowboy Cat took to the black winter coat hanging on the door. For a few minutes, the coat became some sort of monster or something interesting to be taken down, to be hunted.
Interest soon waned, and they rushed off to other pursuits.
Like exhausted children, but without the sugar rush, they soon found chairs, rolled up, and went to sleep, one on them talking in her dreams.
Merry Make-Believe.
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