Animals doing people things

It's not all that uncommon for an animal to try a hand — or paw, rather — at an activity generally reserved for humans. 

Buckle up! This bulldog is going for a drive. The Georgetown Hoyas mascot drove a car around the Capital One Arena in November 2019.

Click through to see more animals doing people things...

Being your wake up call

This clever dog named Boise is training to work with veterans suffering from PTSD. Boise was taught to pull the covers off of a vet having a nightmare and to jump on the bed in order to interrupt the bad dream. Here's Boise in action in 2019.

Boise is a good dog.

Getting a manicure

This orangutan got the spa treatment at the Orangutan Conservation Programme in North Sumatra, Indonesia.

Strutting their suff

The poodle was spotted at a crosswalk in Japan walking on its hind legs like a person. 

Going for a dip

This fearless pooch named Titti wasn't afraid to follow her owner off a bluff and into some aqua blue waters in Malta.

Dining out with friends

These birds sat down for a bite together at a coffee shop in Warsaw.

Getting braces

This puppy from Michigan, for example, went viral on Facebook after Harborfront Hospital for Animals posted photos of him with doggie braces.

"When people hear that Dr. Moore is a 'doggie dentist,' they immediately say things like: 'What? Does he put braces on dogs, too?'" the hospital wrote in its post. "The answer is . . . yes. Yes, he does."

Looking like a rocker

A calf born in July 2017 eerily resembles Gene Simmons, the bass player for the rock group KISS.

Simmons tweeted his admiration for the calf, saying, "This is real, folks!!!"

Talking too much

Einstein the parrot celebrated her 30th birthday by showing off her extensive vocabulary and conversational skills in April 2017.

Einstein can make at least 200 sounds, including words, and knows at least 70 on cue. She's become something of an internet sensation. 

Eating ice cream

"Putter" the squirrel turns up at a North Carolina ice cream shop twice a day for a free mini ice cream cone. He likes vanilla and no-sugar-added vanilla.

Shopping for holiday decor

A Maryland dollar store got a visit from an unlikely customer: a beaver who wandered in and beelined for the artificial Christmas trees. 

The curious creature was rescued by animal control and released to a wildlife rehabilitator, according to the local sheriff's office. 

Rock climbing

A video of this feline easily scaling an indoor rock wall, posted by YouTube user M GOAN, has garnered thousands of views. 

Walking like humans

In June 2016, beloved bipedal bear nicknamed Pedals was spotted walking around the town of Oak Ridge, New Jersey, for the first time in months. Pedals gained internet fame after being captured on video walking upright, looking very human as he strolled through New Jersey neighborhoods. Experts believe Pedals had an injured a leg or paw that doesn't allow it to walk comfortably on all fours.

"The bear has an indomitable spirit,"said Lawrence Hajna, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Outrage ensued months later when reports surfaced that Pedals had been shot dead during an organized black bear hunt. But New Jersey's Division of Fish and Wildlife said it had no way of knowing for sure whether Pedals was killed in the hunt.

Fixing their canines

Wesley got his shiny new set of doggie braces because he reportedly can't close his mouth completely. Tooth alignment will fix that. In fact, this sort of procedure isn't as uncommon as one might think.

"Orthodontia in pets is normally not for aesthetic purposes, but because of health concerns," the animal hospital wrote on Facebook. "The good news is, the correction he needed will be brief, perhaps only a few weeks."

Catching kitchen pests

Jason Womal of Australia caught this huntsman spider carrying a mouse up the outside of a refrigerator.  

Huntsman spiders usually eat cockroaches and crickets, and they immobilize their prey with venom. That's likely what happened to this rodent before it was carried away by the spider.

Womal's mouse problem may be attended to, but now he has to do something about those spiders.

Drinking wine

This Elk in Evergreen, Colorado was spotted carrying an entire bottle of red wine in its mouth on December 3, 2015. Lori Vina Guelich, who snapped the photo, told CBS Denver that the Elk acquired the bottle after rifling through one of her neighbor's recycling bins. Of all the items in the bin, the animal picked out a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon... because it obviously has very sophisticated taste.

By CBS News staff writer Christina Capatides.

Riding in cop cars

On December 1, 2015, a woman reported a stray miniature donkey walking down a rural road in Norman, Oklahoma, and the police responded. Officer Kyle Canaan told TV station KFOR that it took a little pushing, pulling and some animal feed, but he got the miniature donkey, nicknamed "Squishy," into the back of his patrol car and out of harm's way. The woman who spotted Squishy now says she will keep the animal, if no one comes forward to claim him. Headline reporters had fun saying the police were "hauling ass."

Looking at their phones

This gorilla at the Louisville Zoo enjoys looking at photos on visitors' mobile phones. In fact, on September 6, 2015, a zoogoer captured a video of the primate sitting by the glass of his enclosure, flipping through internet photos of other gorillas with a teenage boy.

Scrolling through photos

In the video, the gorilla is so captivated by the photos on this boy's mobile phone that he actually moves closer and leans his head against the glass to get a better look.

What's more, he even gestures to the boy with his arm when he feels it's time to move onto the next picture... photo sharing in its most primitive form.

Taking pizza home on the subway

On September 21, 2015, a YouTube video went viral of a rat carrying a slice of pizza, roughly twice the size of its body, down the stairs of the New York City subway.

Matt Little, the lucky guy who captured #pizzarat on camera, joked in the video's caption that the ambitious little animal looked like, "Master Splinter bringing food home to feed the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."

...that, or every drunk college student who's ever taken the subway home with a slice of pizza in hand.

Sparking road rage

On September 2, 2015, this chicken ruffled feathers by running down the carpool lane near California's Bay Bridge for more than four hours during the morning commute.

Getting taken into custody

The animal was ultimately snared and placed in a patrol car by the California Highway Patrol, after dodging both drivers and officers for hours by running in and out of traffic. The question still remains, though...

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Going to the emergency room

This koala sauntered into the emergency room at Hamilton Base Hospital in Australia, May 5, 2015.

Security cameras captured him wondering around the waiting area for several minutes, before casually exiting out the same automatic door through which he entered.

Growing their hair out

Chris the overgrown sheep avoided getting a haircut for over five years. Then, in September 2015, a hiker discovered him in the Australian bush and contacted the RSPCA for help. Four-time national champion sheep-shearer Ian Elkins was called in for the job; and 45 minutes later, nearly 90 pounds of wool had been removed... a world record.

Getting a close shave

The problem was, though, that the Australian bush isn't Brooklyn, and Chris isn't a hipster growing out a beard. A sheep with that much wool is in grave danger. Struggling under the weight of his coat, Chris could barely walk. He could barely see. And had he fallen down in the wilderness, he most likely would not have been able to get back up.

Even his shearing operation was serious. The enormous weight of Chris's wool was pulling on his skin, making it extremely hard to remove the coat without cutting him. What shear luck then that he was able to score an appointment with the best barber in town.

Hanging out in the dugout

This rather ballsy squirrel leapt down into the Philadelphia Phillies' dugout -- practically on top of MLB star Chase Utley -- during the second inning of a Phillies-Cardinals baseball game in Philadelphia, June 19, 2015.

The squirrelly little guy climbed up the protective netting behind home plate and scurried along the support wire there for a few minutes, before nosediving nearly 30 feet onto the Phillies players in the dugout below.

Relaxing on hammocks

This black bear made himself comfortable on a hammock in a residential backyard in Daytona Beach, Florida, May 30, 2015.

The bear reportedly used the hammock for more than 15 minutes, before someone switched on the backyard lights and startled him.

Waving to friends

The Kodiak Bears at Washington state's Olympic Game Farm are famous for their ability to wave back at visitors. In fact, their waving talent even earned them a gig working for Disney for over 30 years in the mid-twentieth century.

Playing catch

And apparently, waving isn't all the famous Zodiak Bears at Olympic Game Farm can do.

In this video, which went viral May 2015, a visitor tosses a piece of bread to a friendly bear as a reward, and he catches it with one mitt like an MLB star.

Can we say Chicago Cubs?

Casually walking down the street

This giant tortoise in Tokyo enjoys going for leisurely afternoon strolls with her owner, like there's nothing unusual about it.

And really, why would there be? She's clearly donned her Sunday best for the occasion. She's totally minding her own business. And besides...

Slow and stylish wins the race.

Making the peace

Politicians and business leaders often work for years to perfect the art of diplomacy. The golden retriever in the middle here, however, seems to have it pretty much down.

After discovering two of his peers locked in a seemingly endless tug-of-war battle for the same tennis ball, this wise canine walked over and placed his snout directly on top of theirs.

He then stood there until his peers relented and the tennis ball dropped between them. Let's get this dog to the Middle East, pronto!

Working out

Wild animals don't always stay in wild places and they can cause quite a hubbub when they find themselves out of their element.

This abnormally buff kangaroo, for example, might fit in a wide variety of places: the gym, the Jersey Shore, the protein powder aisle at the grocery store...

But when he popped up on a golf course in the North Lakes of Australia, May 22, 2015, he gave locals a bit of a scare. One woman even ran into the jacked animal while walking her dogs through a nearby suburb; telling Australia's 7 News, "We turned the corner and old mate jumped out... He's got massive, massive muscles, big pecs and everything." The poor guy probably just wanted to tell her that the gym is that way.

Getting in trouble with the law

Police in Shelby Township, Michigan received a 911 call on the evening of May 28, 2015, from a local woman who said there was a pig on the loose in her yard and she didn't know what to do.

According to CBS Detroit, "The woman was doing yard work when the pig came barreling toward her. It then chased her into the front yard before getting distracted by a decorative ball."

Police later corralled the pig with a large dog pole and put him into the backseat of a patrol car, where the culprit was either so scared or so excited by the experience that he relieved himself... making it a bit of a messy arrest.

Hang gliding

This cat gave a light aircraft pilot and his passenger quite the scare on June 22, 2015, after it crawled toward them on the wing of a hang glider, thousands of feet above French Guiana.

The daredevil feline reportedly crawled up onto the aircraft to take a nap, while it was parked on the runway at Club ULM, an aviation training school in Kourou; then woke up shocked to find that its bed had lifted off into the air.

Luckily, the cat was a pro and managed to cling onto the glider, until the pilot safely landed it on the ground once more.

Blowing out birthday candles

JD the horse went viral in May 2015 for blowing out the candles on his birthday cake, then curling up his lips and smiling wide for the camera.

JD is reportedly a descendent of the legendary racehorse Secretariat. And while he's not as fast as his grandfather, JD's certainly inherited his knack for stealing the show.

Taking selfies

In 2010, researchers set up 225 camera traps around Tanzania's Serengeti National Park to see how animals behave when people aren't looking.

And as it turns out, they take unflattering selfies... just like us.

Cooling off on water slides

This fun-loving yellow lab, named Milo, helps his human siblings make the most of one of the best party rentals summer has to offer: a 23-foot-tall, 40-foot-long water slide.

Cutting the line

Milo, the awesome lab from Houma, Louisiana, even climbs the stairs of the water slide himself to get the top. So who cares if he occasionally cuts the line?

Going food shopping

This seal wandered into a fish market in Charleston, Oregon, looking for some free fish. He'd reportedly been hanging around Fisherman's Wharf for years, but never actually ventured into the store until May 2015.

"I'm sure he saw all the customers walk into the store and come out with fish," said Matt Ledoux of Fisherman's Wharf, "so he thought he'd give it a go."

Can you blame the little guy? He was hungry, so he tried to seal the deal.

Wearing sweaters

Retirees in a Massachusetts town took things into their own hands when they noticed their chickens struggling in the cold during the winter. 

They knitted sweaters for chickens living nearby, who seemed to appreciate the gesture: Egg production noticeably increased after they were equipped with the sweaters.

Enjoying ice cream

This little pug was treated to a cup of ice cream at the 10th International Berlin Pug Meeting. 

The meetup included pugs from Berlin and beyond who wanted to celebrate the flat-faced dog breed. One of the highlights of the event includes a pug race. 

Wearing a costume

This less-than-pleased feline is dressed up in a traditional Ukrainian Orthodox Christmas outfit at a holiday celebration in Kiev.

Splashing around

Doesn't that look refreshing? These monkeys cooled their heels running through shallow waters in Bako National Park in Sarawak, Malaysia.

Cracking open a cold one

This Siamese cat could probably use some help cracking open this ice cold bottle of milk.

Teaching their kids how to cross the road

This family of swans crossed a street together in Cambourne, England. Hopefully mama swan taught them to look both ways.

Making a meal

These chimpanzees prepared to do some cooking in their habitat at the London Zoo in 1935.

Giving kisses

"I love you so much I could eat you up!" might be what this tiger was thinking when it gave a little smooch to a zookeeper during a 2019 Christmas party at the Malabon Zoo in Manila.

Meeting their favorite celebrity

Not even this chimp could resist giving actor Adrien Brody a little kiss at the 2006 X Rated Fusion Liqueur party.

Skateboarding

Skate life. This fearless Yorkshire terrier zoomed around on a skateboard in Worcestershire, England.

Taking a bubble bath

Is this not the cutest thing you have ever seen in your life? This pup was soaked in a bubble bath in this vintage photo from the 1950s.