Did you know that cats can make nearly 300 unique facial expressions? Or that facially expressive monkeys make better leaders? 

In the animal kingdom, facial expressions are very important, as they act as a means of communication, similar to the human world. However, animals, just like us, can’t always control their facial expressions, which results in a plethora of goofy moments caught on camera.

Many of them you’ll find below, carefully curated by our Bored Panda team. Scroll down to enjoy them, and don’t forget to upvote the kings and queens of derpy faces!

#1 My Dog Really Loves Bubbles

Image credits: MarvelousFizz

#2 There Are Two Types Of Horses

Image credits: CapSteveRogers

#3 Took A Shot Of This Guy Yesterday, Guess He Wasn’t Too Happy About It

Image credits: 2383galjeb

Previously, we chatted with some animal and pet photographers about funny animal expressions that they capture on a daily basis. During such an interesting conversation, we were first curious to know how they ended up following such a career path. 

“In my first year of business, I won a photography contest with a funny photo of a dog drinking from a water fountain. It made me realize that my pet photos were more creative than my traditional portrait photography,” shared pet photographer Karen Hoglund. “I felt I could capture animals’ personalities better than humans, and their spontaneity intrigued me.”

Pet photographer Allison Shamrell told us that what pushed her to pursue this kind of photography was her love for dogs. “Photography is a medium that doesn’t use words, and neither do dogs. Capturing their joy is such a great way to connect with these souls who are never with us for long enough… not to mention it’s a LOT of fun!”

#4 I Took My Puppy To Work Last Week. He Loved It

He definitely distracted people more than expected – but I think he was also a great for morale. Fortunately our HR dept is awesome and approved the visit on the condition that they got to meet him.

Image credits: apocalypse910

#5 In Front Of Me In Line To Sign In At A Vet Office

Image credits: vtsforza

#6 My Cat Is Very Photogenic

Image credits: reddit.com

Meanwhile, vet tech and equine photographer Christina Lathrop combined her profession and love of photography to start an animal photography business. 

“I worked as a licensed vet tech for eight years, and photography has always been a passion of mine. When I took a break from the field to welcome my fourth child, I got a camera set as a Christmas gift. I started experimenting with pet photography while also running my retail store in Seattle. 

Unfortunately, the pandemic hit my business hard, and we had to close last year. A friend suggested I turn my photography hobby into a professional pursuit, so I took her advice, enrolled in some photography classes, and dove right in. My background as a vet tech and animal behaviorist really helps me connect with animals and capture great shots.”

#7 Horse With The Spirit Of Eddie Murphy’s Donkey In Shrek

Image credits: fightmilk22

#8 Somebody Was Friendly Enough To Smile For The Camera

She didn’t SOUND very friendly, but look at that smile!

Image credits: RuneFell

#9 Learning To Floss

Image credits: NBD2016

Getting back to funny animals’ facial expressions, all photographers enthusiastically shared their favorite ones they were able to capture on camera. For Hoglund, it was the award-winning photo of doggy Vizsla drinking water (click here to see it).

“I knew that dog had been trained to drink out of fountains because his owner didn’t want to carry water on their walks,” she explained.

“So, I started with the dog’s normal behavior and made it funnier by making it look like he was doing it all by himself. Behind the scenes, I had my husband hold the water button; he was lying on the ground so that you couldn’t see him. We also had the dog walk around the park first, so he’d be thirsty. His enthusiasm for getting a drink is what makes it funny!”

#10 Some Owls Sleep Face Down Because Their Heads Are Too Heavy

Image credits: Medicina

#11 Honeybun’s Derp Face After The Dog Park

This was after her first ever dog park visit. Before I adopted her, she had never run in her life. She was confined to a cage her entire life of 1 year and 2 months as a “breeding investment”.

Image credits: Gunsndope

#12 What Otter Mommy Does When Their Babies Refuse To Go School

Corrected: that wasn’t mommy. It was another member of the family.

Image credits: c.k.teo Photojournal

Shamrell’s favorite is head tilts, as she finds that the inquisitive, trying-to-understand-you expression priceless. Meanwhile, Lathrop fondly remembers a photo she took of a young gypsy colt that was an adorable ball of energy. 

“I am a hobby horse trainer and enthusiast, so I of course LOVE my equine shoots. So I just snapped away and got this super cute photo of him; his owner ended up loving it too,” she fondly shared.

#13 When You Take That First Bite Of Your Great Aunt’s Fruit Cake

Image credits: juniperfoxx

#14 King Of The Side Eye

Image credits: douglas_thedinkydaxy

#15 Always One Cheeky One

Image credits: quirkyherd

Having captured so many animals and pets in her career, Lathrop has noticed that some of them have signature expressions that they tend to repeat often. 

“For instance, shepherds tend to give that classical head tilt when any sort of unknown noise arises, goldens are just a ball of love and will typically hold anything we ask in their mouths, and Bostons will give me an enthusiastic eye-popping expression. Horses are all unique, and the personalities really vary within individuals, but geldings (neutered males) tend to give more playful expressions.”

#16 Lilith Is On Cage Rest For A Little While And Peach Isn’t Taking It Very Well

Lilith had her hormone implant the other day so this is just a precautionary measure to make sure she doesn’t do too much to disturb the wound while it heals! Won’t be long before she’s out causing chaos again.

Image credits: ParrotLad

#17 Smile Pretty For The Camera

Image credits: AhMoonBeam

#18 Minerva Doing Her Best Spooky Face

Her full name is Minerva the Relentless, and her older sister is Atwater the Destroyer.

Image credits: DavidRandom

Whereas Hoglund finds that the facial expressions animals make depend more on their personalities than on their species or breeds.

“People assume golden retrievers or other breeds with dopey smiles would be the funniest, but all animals do something that makes them unique. Guinea pigs have wonderful deadpan expressions! Cats are often hilarious when they’re being mischievous. It’s not so much about the breed but about each animal’s individual personality.”

#19 We Dug Her A Little Hole, And Now It’s Her Hole She Hides In To Pounce At Us From And This Is Her Face While She Does It

Literally does the same thing on flat ground thinking we can’t see her haha.

Image credits: larnni

#20 “The Same Thing We Do Every Night Pinky”

Image credits: robswampthing

#21 This Photo Of Sophie Fits Here Perfectly

Sometimes I look at her and wonder if she’s real tbh.

Image credits: Jackied96

To get the playful and derpy sides of animals to come out and play during photoshoots, Lathrop tries her best to just let the pets be themselves. 

“I just stand back and let them interact with their owners while I look through the lens. I always take a bag of what I refer to as “ear getters” to get their attention or their eyes to look at me when I want that. But it’s really a lot like working with human toddlers, I just gotta go in with a lot of patience and the ability to change my plan for posing on a whim because animals don’t always do what we want them to.”

#22 My Ferret’s Mugshot

Image credits: interiorcrocodemon

#23 Omg

Image credits: dankw33b

#24 Her First Summer And Warm Weather Ride With The Windows Down

Image credits: BDayCakes

Hoglund’s secret to derpy yet adorable photos is to ask the owners what tricks or funny things their pets do.

“That gives me a general plan of what might happen, but I stay open to what the animal actually does. An example is a photo I took of two golden retrievers in a convertible. Typically, people want their dogs to look at the camera. We got that shot, but then the pups saw other dogs walking in front of the car and looked forward. That was the humorous shot because it looked like they were driving!”

#25 Awwww Yyyaassss Errppllleesss

Image credits: pootsytoots

#26 His Derpy Smile This Morning

His name is Summit.

Image credits: Peircen20

#27 She Is My Beautiful Derp

Image credits: dphnlsrs

#28 Super Happy Flying Turtle

Image credits: gur4red

#29 Rexie: I Don’t Always Make Presents For My Hooman, But When I Do They’re Smelly

Image credits: rexiecat

#30 My Friend’s Dog Ate Edible Brownie Yesterday

Image credits: JustHavinAGoodTime

#31 Rescued As A Sickly Fish In May 2020 vs. Present. Still A Huge Derp. Her Name Is Harriet

In the first picture she had pretty bad ammonia burns. And she was 4 months old but now, she almost 2 years old.

Image credits: Vegetable_Schedule_2

#32 Firefox Has Encountered A Problem With Windows

Image credits: caseorganic

#33 My Little Cow-Cat, Oliver, Blepping

Image credits: kelpri

#34 The Face He Makes When He’s About To Bark

Image credits: LukiBlu

#35 This Is My Boy Bilbo Not Knowing What’s Going On Ever

He’s Lamancha/Nigerian mix!

Image credits: reddit.com

#36 Derpy Bunny

Image credits: vinkulelu

#37 Say Cheese Pancho

Image credits: Imfunsize_mhm

#38 Post Vet, Pre-Snack Face

Image credits: reddit.com

#39 Sid Had His Teeth Cleaned Today

Image credits: Skinnypetedood

#40 This Funny Hay Eating Horse

Image credits: reddit.com

#41 Annie Presses Her Face Against The Door When I Come Home

Absolutely nothing but clown music in her head but she’s sweet.

Image credits: sassenachlawyer

#42 Oh Lawd She Smilin

Image credits: realjayrage

#43 Oreo Speedwagon Heard Me Open A Cheese Wrapper While He Was Outside

Image credits: reddit.com

#44 Taken From My Parents’ Kitchen Window. They Don’t Have Any Cats

This wouldn’t be the first time that cats have adopted them.

Image credits: AllHanceOnDeck

#45 Asked My Mom To Take A Picture Of My Cat. Was Not Disappointed

Image credits: jokermoonbow

#46 Such A Cutie

Image credits: virgoprincxss

#47 Upside Down Picture Of Dog Lying Upside Down

Image credits: Antoshi

#48 I’m Not Sure What I Did, But I’m Sorry

Image credits: Gussaroo

#49 Tigers With Pumpkins Is Always A Good Time

Image credits: Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium

#50 My Friend’s Husky Is Special

Image credits: aalicedee

#51 Doggo Looks Like Sid From Ice Age

Image credits: icant-chooseone

#52 My Dog Scout’s Rude Response To Getting Her Picture Taken

She is named after scout from to “K**l a Mockingbird”. It’s my mom’s favorite book.

Image credits: clemskin

#53 I’ve Been Using Pics Of My Fave Dog At My Job As Reaction Images For A Whole Year… The Amount Of Emotion His Face Can Convey Is Endless

I don’t work on the days he comes in anymore and I go weeks without seeing him… I miss him so much and have videos of my reunions with him. Next time I see him I will absolutely give him extra love!!!

Image credits: zoebennetthanes

#54 Hank Is So Excited To Be Snuggling With His Favorite Sheep

Image credits: elee0228

#55 My Gecko Is More Photogenic Than Me

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#56 Photogenic Cheetah Cubs At The Toronto Zoo Reminds Me Of Reese, Malcolm And Dewey

Their expressions say it all.

Image credits: SunCloud-777

#57 Every Day Is Better With A Little Alpaca In It

Mr Burns alien version.

Image credits: Boojibs

#58 Wombats Are Cute, Derpy Wombats Are Even Cuter

Image credits: Beezo514

#59 Baby Otter Blep

Image credits: Wildlife Center of Texas

#60 Nadine’s Face While Getting Some Tail Scratches

Image credits: Modern-Moo

#61 I Don’t Know Why She Does This Lip Thing

Image credits: CloudTheFluffy

#62 She Is Beauty, She Is Grace

This is my cat and she’s a lunatic 🙂 I took about 50 pictures this afternoon and somehow I don’t think I’m ever going to top this one.

Image credits: 888temeraire888

#63 Face Of Pure Pleasure

Image credits: julie1335

#64 I Promise They’re Actually Best Friends

Image credits: Raveler_gav

#65 Boo Loves You

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#66 She Is Beauty, She Is Grace

Image credits: MalsPrettyBonnet

#67 He Eats Kinda Funny

He was eating a rat and this pic was taken 3 years ago, he’s a pretty good weight atm and much longer now, big boy.

Image credits: ceecbug

#68 Someone Was Screaming Outside Our Apartment, Ben Was Very Concerned

Image credits: elliepetunia

#69 Funny Goat Face

We think that they are Nigerian Pygmy. The family that we got them from wasn’t exactly sure but that’s what we are going with.

Image credits: Ok_Avocado2210

#70 Willow Looking Silly

She was scratching her shoulder. Their tongues are very rough, so they use them for getting at itches all the time.

Image credits: Modern-Moo

#71 The Majestic Beauty Of Bianca The Alpaca

Image credits: Slow-moving-sloth

#72 When It Comes To His Lips, My Friend’s Guinea Pig Seriously Won The Genetic Lottery

He was born this fabulous!

Image credits: ibuprofencompactor

#73 My Guinea Pig Cleaning Her Window

Image credits: Buffaloida

#74 It’s Just Her Face. She’s The Sweetest Dog Ever. But She Constantly Looks Disappointed In Us

Husky mix of mysteries. Husband adopted her from a shelter 9 years ago. She’s atypical for a husky. She’s more like a cat…. obviously.

Image credits: GingerWife2017

#75 Today, I Met A Ridiculiously Not-Photogenic Goat

Image credits: redslime

#76 It’s Called Fashion Look It Up

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#77 Rawr

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#78 Everyone Meet Dolly, The Derpiest Of Llamas

Image credits: kelley5454

#79 This Is Chicken Parm. She Refuses To Let Me Take Photos Of The Other Chickens

She’ll make sure you can’t look at any other!

Image credits: petcommissions

#80 Just A Little Hamster Enjoying Some Snacks In Their Tiny Clay Cup

Image credits: unnaturalorder

#81 I Heard This Belonged Here! My Mare During A Professional Photo Shoot

Although horses aren’t as easy to pose as humans, she was way more interested in the grass everywhere!

Image credits: queenangmar

#82 Local Animal Shelter Posted This Photo And I Immediately Applied To Adopt Her. I’ve Had Her For Two Months

She still does this on windows.

Image credits: PuzzleheadedOccasion

#83 I Tried To Get A Nice Photo Of Him In The Sunlight. He Made This Face

Image credits: missjett97

#84 One Of The Orangutans At My Zoo Recently Had A Baby. Here He Is In All His Glory

Image credits: DuffManSzALotAThings

#85 Adopted Either A Kitten Or A Gremlin With Ringworm So She Has To Have Lots Of Baths

Most animals will lose patches of fur, but Hazel (the kitten here) didn’t have any symptoms. She is an a symptomatic carrier apparently…which led to lots of cuddles and holding her until everyone started sprouting patches of the fungus and that’s when we took her to the vet. They did cultures and it came back positive.

Image credits: reddit.com

#86 Looking For The Weekend Like

Image credits: loki_kitteh

#87 My Dog Is So Photogenic It’s A Wonder She Hasn’t Been Asked To Do An Iams Commercial Yet

This is our second Weim and they are the best! Although both of ours have had pretty bad anxiety problems. But they love to be outdoors and are super loyal and very smart. Plus you can’t beat these faces! This is Addy, and we adopted her about 5 months ago.

Image credits: DignityHouse

#88 Made A New Friend Today… It’s Cute How Angry He Is

Image credits: Tiopy

#89 Derpus Werewolfus

120 Lbs Of Silly German Shepherd. His Couch Is Behind My Desk And He Will Just Lay There Like This Watching Me Work For An Hour Or More At A Time. Love This Gentle Giant.

Image credits: Virtual_Abies_6552

#90 Went To The Zoo. Saw A Camel

I was far enough away that he wouldn’t spit me.

Image credits: wrobins1992

#91 This Expressive Zebra

Image credits: reddit.com

#92 The Look Of Joy On His Face

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#93 Nothing Better Than To Have This Stupid Face Greet You First Thing In The Morning

Caught Wayne mid yarn and the man looks possessed. He is off to go shake the lower branches of the apple trees and get some morning grub.

Image credits: pr_capone

#94 Mid Sneeze

Image credits: Local-Lynx

#95 My Cow, Cava

She’s very friendly and loves strokes (especially under the chin).

Image credits: Tuna_Stubbs

#96 A Few Of Our Rats Being Derpfaces

Image credits: TheKizzy

#97 This Is The Face Ghost Makes When He Wants To Be Petted

Image credits: zzabe

#98 How To Look Like A Wet Rat: Step 1 – Be Alfi. Step 2 – Done

He is a chihuahua, mini pinscher and pekingese mix.

Image credits: zaff03

#99 Smiling Alpaca

Her name is Simona.

Image credits: EvolutionVII

#100 Having A BBQ This Is Our View

Image credits: Misfortun3

#101 “So I Pretended To Throw A Ball And Caught The Exact Moment My Dog Realised I Had Betrayed Him”

Image credits: rockxroyalty

#102 “Do You Got Games On Your Phone?”

Image credits: Modern-Moo

#103 My Ridiculously Photogenic Fat Tail Gecko

Know there’s probably some people that aren’t “reptile lovers” but I always thought my little gecko looks like a muppet.

Image credits: Special_Profession69

#104 This Is Lenny’s “I Smell Urine Face” Which He Only Makes When He Smells One Of The Other Animals’ Pee

I swear he goes right for it then looks up at me like this.

Image credits: vestegaard

#105 Brand New Girl Takes Issue With Front Lawn

Image credits: chicken_karmajohn

#106 Apparently Tard Is Retiring, I Present Angry Turtle

Image credits: fappingforfreedom

#107 All I Wanted Was A Nice Photo Of My Cat

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#108 Derpy Donkey Hugs

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#109 Not A Single Thought

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#110 Funny Guy

He kept trying to get in my lap and would do it until he laid down but he never lays down for more than a few minutes before he’s off doing the next thing.

Image credits: cloluvsgoats

#111 Snapping Turtle

I live on the water and every year we have Snapping, Painted & Map turtles coming up to lay their eggs in our gardens. It’s my favourite time of year!

Image credits: RiverLover27

#112 Sleepy Ferret Blep

Image credits: Bottled_star

#113 Rat Blep

Image credits: Starlightriddlex

#114 Naughty Turtle

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#115 My Wife (Right ) Had A Moment With A Derpy Alpaca (Left)

Image credits: MisterFixit_69

#116 Little Man Got A New Toy

He was preoccupied with squeaking this thing when my partner called his name in a playful voice. We have no idea why he made this face but it made for a great laugh! We also can’t figure out what “breed” he is, if anyone can offer any insight just by looking at him. He’s massive for his age, almost 3.5 pounds! We love him.

Image credits: sethfern11

#117 Ov***ose At The Vet

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE It may sound silly, but when taking your ferret to the vet, ask the tech if they’re sure their dose calculations are correct. I took my boy in for a nail trim and distemper booster yesterday. They administered Benadryl 15 minutes before the booster. After the Benadryl, they brought him back to wait with me for the 15 minutes. 3 minutes later, the tech ran out to take him back to the Dr. He was supposed to receive 0.5ml of children’s Benadryl orally. He was injected with 1.5ml. I had to rush and drive him an hour away to the only emergency hospital that had room. He was crashing. They kept him overnight and I’m still waiting for an update. Please just ask them to confirm the dose. It can’t hurt anyone to ask. Please send good vibes to my little man, Buzz, that he pulls through.

Image credits: Awzwyn

#118 Say Cheese

Image credits: Exotic_Magazine5375