Warning –  Some of these animal riddles are harder than others! Here is a list of brain-building riddles with answers to entertain kids and infuriate adults. My family used to put together a collection of riddles for long car rides, and turn learning into a game. Send your kids to school with a new fun fact to share! Want to bring your pup in on the action? Check out Pep & Pup’s Top 10 Puzzles Toys for Dogs. 

No spoilers! Answers at the bottom of the blog. 

Animal Riddles

1: What jumps when it walks and sits when it stands? 

2: I am named for my pick of prey. 

3: What goes tick-tock, bow-wow, tick-tock, bow-wow?

4: I sleep by day and fly at night, but I have no feathers to aid my flight. What am I?

5: The strangest creature you’ll ever find. I have two eyes in front and many more behind. 

6: You might be called this animal If someone thinks that you’re afraid. You might eat them as well the eggs that its laid.

7: It takes me two weeks to digest food, but then again, I’m not noted for being speedy. What am I?

8: What do you call a sleeping cow?

9: My name sounds like something you might use on your hair or eat for dessert. What am I?

10: The alphabet goes from A to Z but I go Z to A. What am I?

11: Where do hippopotamuses keep their money?

12: Play me with a ball and bat or hear me chirp in a top hat. What am I?

13: Where do rabbits eat breakfast?

14: I wear a tuxedo in the snow and skate on my tummy across the ice. What am I?

15: I have a mane but I’m not a lion and I wear my shoes to bed. What am I?

16: I’m the only mammal that can’t jump. What animal am I?

17: What color chicks would hatch from brown and white rooster eggs?

18: I move without wings, between silken strings, I leave as you find, my substance behind. What am I?

19: An animal that peels like an onion but still remains whole?

20: I have a hole in my back and legs I lack. I live where I can’t breathe and I eat without teeth. What am I?

21: What do you call a chicken at the North Pole?

22: Cupid without a bow, Doner with no kebab, one who dances, one who prances, all dragging present-giving dad. What am I?

23: Why can’t a leopard hide?

24: What do you call a horse that lives next door?

25: What kind of mouse do cats dislike eating?

26: Why did the chicken, the pheasant, turkey, duck, and goose get in trouble?

27: My start goes on toast, and my end’s how birds move. My baby eats leaves but I drink flowers. What am I?

28: I have horns but I can’t beep. I like to bleat but I’m not a sheep.

29: My first’s in follow but not lead, my second’s in write but not in read. My third’s in sky but not cloud, my fourth’s in humble but not in proud. My all turn circles in a bowl, and lies on a plate fried up whole.

30: I row with four paddles but never leave home. What am I?

31: A prickly house, the face of a mouse. What am I?

32: What’s at the head of an elephant and the tail of a squirrel?

Answers

  1. Kangaroo
  2. Anteater 
  3. Watch dog
  4. Bat
  5. Peacock
  6. Chicken
  7. Sloth
  8. Bull-dozer 
  9. Moose 
  10. Zebra
  11. In the riverbank
  12. Cricket
  13. IHOP
  14. Penguin
  15. Horse
  16. Elephant
  17. Roosters don’t lay eggs!
  18. Spider
  19. Lizard
  20. Whale
  21. Lost!
  22. Reindeer
  23. Because they are always spotted
  24. Neigh-bour
  25. Computer mouse
  26. Because of their fowl (foul) language
  27. Butterfly
  28. Goat
  29. Fish
  30. Turtle
  31. Hedgehog
  32. The letters ‘el’