animals who use tools

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10 Surprising Ways Animals Use Tools

Andrew Handley December 29, 2012

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What is it that separates humans from the rest of the animals on the planet? Its not our

thumbs, or our tendency to wage wars, or the way we pass on knowledge and culture toyounger generations. If anything, we just have a few million years head start on some of the

more important things. But as researchers are discovering, a lot of species in the animal

kingdom are starting to catch up.

These ten animals have started using tools as a way to manipulate their environment in some

very surprising ways. As a note, we tried to avoid using primates as much as possible, just

because monkeys are doing some incredible stuff all over the place and its almost not

surprising anymore.

10

Crows Use Science to Reach Worms

Crows have been seen crafting tools and using moving cars to help them get to food. Some

birds use water displacement to get hard-to-reach bugs from water.

Crows are well known as one of the most intelligent bird species, just behind parrots.Theyve been observed using tools in the wild in a variety of manners, including whittling

down sticks to just the right length in order to pull bugs out of logs, and dropping nuts in

front of moving cars to crack them open. But their problem solving ability gets even weirder

than that.

The aptly named Christopher Bird, a researcher at the University of Cambridge, has recently

shown that rooks (in the same family as crows) understand how to use stones to raise the

level of water in a glass tube to get at food, a principle known as displacement. The rooks

were presented with a glass tube partially filled with water in which a worm was floating.

When the rooks couldnt reach the worm, they began dropping stones into the water to raise

the water level. And it wasnt just randomthe crows were able to calculate how many

stones they needed, instead of just trying to get the worm each time they dropped in a newstone.


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Blanket octopodes tear the legs of venomous siphonophores to use as weapons against their

enemies.

The blanket octopus is already unusual compared to its octopodes cousins. Instead of using

ink, it has a wide membrane net between its tentacles that it can use to make itself appear

much bigger, scaring away potential predators. Thats cool or whatever, but the incredible

part is that this octopus has been known to rip off the tentacles of the Portuguese Man O Warand wield them as weapons like a deep sea version of Whiplash from Ironman 2. The blanket

octopus is immune to the siphonophores poison, allowing it to safely handle the stinging

tentacles as a defensive tool.

7

Macaques Floss With Human Hair

One group of monkeys in Thailand plucks hair from tourists and uses it to floss after eating.

Most of the items on this list can be explained through the English proverb, Necessity is the

mother of invention. If an animal cant reach its food, it devises a new way to get it. But

explain that to the long-tailed macaques of Thailand, who use human hair as dental floss. The

bizarre behavior has so far only been found in one group of macaques who live near a

particular Buddhist shrine. The monkeys will climb onto the backs of people who visit the

shrine and pluck out strands of hair, then run off and spend a few minutes cleaning their teeth.

Researchers have been paying attention to these monkeys for some time now, and what

theyve noticed is that mothers will actually teach their infants how to floss, slowly going

through the motions in front of them, in order to continue this behavior in ensuing

generations. What we dont know is WHY they do this, since it doesnt directly lead to any

survival benefit.

6Rodents Use Rakes to Reach Food


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Degus similar to chinchillas can use small rakes to get food they cant reach from under a

fence.

Mice and other rodents are often used to develop models for learning behavior, but until now

they have never been taught to use tools. Their paws arent really built for tool manipulation,

so rodents are normally used for memory-based tasks (running mazes, pushing buttons, etc.).

But researchers at the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research in Japan have beenstudying the behavior of degus, which are similar to chinchillas.

The researchers positioned the degus on one side of a plastic fence with a seed on the other

side, just out of reach. Then they gave the degus a small rake, which the rodents used to pull

the seed to their side of the fence. Compared to some of the other examples here this isnt

amazing by itself, but its unusual just because its the first example to show that rodents have

the capacity to understand the use of tools.

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Herons Craft Lures to Hunt More Easily

Striated herons whittle down twigs to fashion lures to catch fish.

A lot of bird species use tools to find food, commonly in the form of twigs or thorns that

allow them to reach into holes for grubs. The striated heron, however, uses a more passive

approach to tools: These herons have been known to take objects to use as bait, drop them in

the water, and then wait for fish to come grab the bait. The lures could be insects, twigs,

bread crumbs, or bits of leaf.

Whats even more impressive, however, is that striated herons will also create their own lures

by whittling down twigs to the proper size, basically manufacturing their own tools to fit the

right purpose. Researchers noticed that younger herons arent as adept at tool making, but as

they get older they learn from their experiences and begin to make more effective lures.


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4

Dresser Crabs Make Their Own Camouflage

Dresser crabs attach pieces of seaweed to hooks on their shell to act as camouflage against

predators.While many animals use tools to find food, the dresser crab uses tools to keep from becoming

food in one of the oddest behaviors weve observed in nature. The small crab will pull up

aquatic plants like seaweed and sponges, and attach them to small hooks on their shells to

serve as camouflage. The hooks act like a temporary adhesive, allowing the dresser crab to

easily trade its disguise when it enters a new environment, helping it blend in no matter

where it goes.

If the crab senses danger, it will freeze in place and act like just another piece of seaweed

until the danger passes.

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Gorillas Use Sticks to Gauge Water Depth


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Gorillas have been known to use sticks to measure the depth of water before entering ponds

or rivers.

Just watching primates in the wild shows how intelligent they can be when it comes to

solving problems, even without human input to teach them certain behaviors. Tool useinherently involves some sort of capacity for spatial reasoning, and thats more evident than

ever in a group of wild gorillas who have been photographed using sticks to measure the

depth of pools of water before trying to cross.

Researchers observed one female gorilla wading into a pool of water, only to discover that it

was deeper than she had thought. She backed out of the pool, found a long tree branch, and

then waded back into the pool, poking the ground in front of her to test the depth before each

step. Another gorilla carried a log around and dropped it over muddy patches to use as a

bridge.

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The Bolas Spider Fishes For Prey


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Bolas spiders fashion fishing rods from their silk to cast at and catch unsuspecting moths.

Sometimes nature gives us the capacity to produce our own tools, as is the case with the bolas

spider, commonly found in California. Bolas spiders produce the same silk other spiders use

to make webs, but they use it in a slightly different way: Female bolas spiders will make a

sticky silk ball, which they hurl at flying moths to catch them, reeling in their catch just like a

fisherman.

To make sure the moths come close enough, bolas spiders have developed the ability to

produce the same chemicals which female moths use to signal to male moths when theyre

ready to mate. (Warning: That link will give you nightmares).

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Chimpanzees Hunt With Spears


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Fongoli chimps fashion spears with their teeth then hunt in packs to catch their prey for food.

Chimpanzees are probably the biggest tool users in the animal kingdom, but Fongoli chimps

have taken this to a new extreme: Hunting. With spears. Researchers have been watching a

group of chimps in the West African country of Senegal who sharpen sticks with their teeth

and go on raiding parties to catch bushbabies and other monkeys for food.

The chimpanzees in this region will jab their spears into holes where they think bushbabiesmight be hiding, not as a probe, but with enough force to skewer any animal caught in the

way.

Its mostly females who do this, but young chimps are beginning to fashion spears more and

more often, which researchers believe is influenced by their tendency to learn from the

actions of their mothers. To make the obvious comparison, we did this exact same thing about

2 million years ago.


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The subject of animal intelligence has been touched on in a previous list by Andrew Handley

and its a subject which is often uncomfortable for those who like to think of humans as a

separate, special kind of creature. Unfortunately for these people, it is impossible to deny that

animals are intelligentand often much more so than we have generally given them credit

for.

One of the most startling cognitive abilities demonstrated by animals is their ingenious use of

tools. Here are ten examples of animals who have found that nature did not equip them as

well as it might haveand who have thus made up the shortfall themselves.

10

Wrasses Use Anvils

We all know how annoying it can be to set our sights on a can of food, only to find the can

opener missing. Even worse: a bottle of wine, and no corkscrew. But such frustrations are not

limited to humans, of course.

Wrasses are a type of fish which have found a way around similar troubles. They generally

eat small invertebrates which offer limited resistance, but occasionally they find something

which needs a bit of wrasse-wrangling. They have been observed picking up hard-shelled

bivalveswhich they would normally not be able to eatand using rocks as anvils in order

to shatter their shells.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/blog/more-tool-use-observed-in-marine-fishes-including-videohttp://www.advancedaquarist.com/blog/more-tool-use-observed-in-marine-fishes-including-videohttp://www.advancedaquarist.com/blog/more-tool-use-observed-in-marine-fishes-including-videohttp://www.advancedaquarist.com/blog/more-tool-use-observed-in-marine-fishes-including-video


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9

Octopuses Build Mobile Homes

Humans are very vertebrate-centric in their conception of the animal hierarchy. But there are

many surprisingly intelligent animals to be found among those species lacking backbones; the

minds of octopuses, in particular, are being studied rather rigorously at present, because theseanimals are such good problem solvers.

Theyre so clever, in fact, that under UK law, octopuses are considered honorary vertebrates

in terms of their legal protections. Octopuses use their supple bodies to slide into tight places

in pursuit of food, but a soft body is little protection from predators. The veined octopus has

been observed actively solving this vulnerability problem, by digging up coconut shells and

using them as shelter. They have been seen squeezing into the empty shells and carrying them

as they walk along the seabed, safe from attack.

8

Crows Using Cars

It is well known that crows and their relatives are among the cleverest of birds. They have

displayed a complex range of talents, and are now being closely studied. But to claim that

crows are using cars?

Well, okay, they havent exactly been driving them. But theres strong anecdotal evidence of

crows carrying hard nuts onto a road, waiting for a car to drive over themand crack them,

and then swooping in to retrieve the food. There is academic debate as to whether this could

be a planned behavior on the part of the crowsbut it falls well within the level ofintelligence the birds have previously displayed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veined_Octopushttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8408233.stmhttp://mwsu-bio101.ning.com/profiles/blogs/crows-using-automobiles-ashttp://mwsu-bio101.ning.com/profiles/blogs/crows-using-automobiles-ashttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veined_Octopushttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8408233.stmhttp://mwsu-bio101.ning.com/profiles/blogs/crows-using-automobiles-as


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7

Assassin Beetles Make Armor

In the brutal struggle of all against all which exists in nature, a good defense can make all the

difference between catching prey, and becoming prey yourself. An assassin always needs a

good escape planand the assassin bug is no different.

This predatory bug feeds on ants and other small insects. When it captures them, it sucks out

their insidesand keeps the hollow shells. The bug then sticks these husks to its back, and

wears them as armoragainst any predator which comes along.

Since the pile of corpses on the bug can grow quite large, the predator is more likely to target

this than the assassin bug itself. At this point, the armor will come loose from the bug, leaving

it free to scuttle off and live another day. Ablative armor is a fairly new trick in humanitys

arsenaland it seems that insects might have got there first.

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Elephants Use Mirrors
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reduviidaehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reduviidaehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reduviidaehttp://www.arkinspace.com/2012/05/assassin-bug-malaysias-macabre.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reduviidaehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reduviidaehttp://www.arkinspace.com/2012/05/assassin-bug-malaysias-macabre.html


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What could be simpler than using a mirror? Nothingat least for us. But animals and very

young human children are generally unable to recognize that what they are looking at is a

reflection of themselves, rather than another animal.

The ability to perceive oneself in a mirror is called the Mirror Test by cognitive scientists.

Elephants were tested to see if they had the necessary self-awareness to use mirrors by having

marks painted on their heads. Amazingly, when faced with a mirror, they quickly moved their

trunks to the mark on themselves, and not to their reflection in the mirror.

5

Sea Otters Use Stones
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_testhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/6100430.stmhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/6100430.stmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_testhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/6100430.stmhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/6100430.stm


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We have already seen how Wrasses carry their hard-shelled food to rocks, in order to open it.

Sea otters have the added benefit of working limbs, and can therefore carry the stones with

them. They search the seabed for stones of certain sizes and shapespossibly displaying a

certain power of imaginationand then carry the pebbles under their armpits.

When the otters catch mollusks too well-sealed to get into, they hammer the mollusks with

the stones until they break open, and then eat them. They show an ability to modify their

pounding depending on the shape of the stone they are using.

4

Orangutans Use Whistles

Some of the abilities weve mentioned already might be considered innate skills, so the most

fascinating question remains: is it possible for some animals to learn to use tools? It turns out

that the answer is yes.

Orangutans seem almost uncannily human in many respectsand their ability to learn is just

one of them. When an orangutan is threatened, he will make a whistling noise in order to

scare the intruder away. All orangutans will do this. But in certain populations, members havebeen observed taking leaves and using them tomake their whistle louder. This must be a

taught behavior, passed down through generations, because it is only observed in certain

linked groups of orangutan populationsmaking it all the more impressive.

3

Naked Mole-Rats Use Mouthguards

The naked mole-rat seems to be on the wrong side of evolution. Living in colonies in which

only one female is allowed to breed, the rest of colony spend their time burrowing to find

food. This involves mashing their face into mud until they find something to eat. With theaim of improving their lot, they have devised a digging methodwhich makes their lives a little
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_otterhttp://www.livescience.com/5616-orangutans-musical-instrument.htmlhttp://www.livescience.com/5616-orangutans-musical-instrument.htmlhttp://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/08/090804-orangutans-kiss-leaves.htmlhttp://io9.com/5889665/10-reasons-naked-mole-rats-will-inherit-the-earthhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_otterhttp://www.livescience.com/5616-orangutans-musical-instrument.htmlhttp://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/08/090804-orangutans-kiss-leaves.htmlhttp://io9.com/5889665/10-reasons-naked-mole-rats-will-inherit-the-earth


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more bearable. The mole-rats take a piece of bark or a fragment of plant matter and place it in

their mouth. This stops them from inhaling dust as they dig the tunnels with their teeth.

2

Spiders Make Stone Intruder Alarms

Corolla spiders live in small burrows in the desert. They emerge to capture any suitable prey

that ventures too closea practice which gives them a rather limited hunting range. So in

order to increase the area in which they can detect prey, the spiders select seven or eight

stones of similar size and shape and arrange them in circle around the entrance to their lair.

Offered a choice of stones, they will most often choose those made of quartz. The spiders can

detect vibrations through the stonesallowing them to strike at prey outside of their usual

range.

1

Phronima Make A Terrifying Papoose

Is there anything more tender than the love of a mother for her children? So what could be

more beautifulthan watching a mother capture another animal, tear out its innards, and use

the hollowed-out husk to carry her babies around in? Thats what the female Phronimadoes.

The Phronima are small invertebrates which live in the sea. When shes ready to lay her eggs,

a Phronima catches a salpa small gelatinous creatureand kills it by eating its insides.

This leaves a hollow tube in which she can transport her eggs and young ones until they areready to survive separately.
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Dx7slq__udwC&pg=PT49&lpg=PT49&dq=tool+use+in+spiders+stones&source=bl&ots=WbbKkRL4uJ&sig=ApJ5kKzf57D4XIjtRQGOA3mYKvA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Lj5TUbbaHKah0QW0m4CQDA&ved=0CEoQ6AEwAwhttp://deepseacreatures.org/interesting/deep-sea-creature-that-inspired-the-alien-serieshttp://deepseacreatures.org/interesting/deep-sea-creature-that-inspired-the-alien-serieshttp://www.scienceandthesea.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=154&Itemid=10http://www.scienceandthesea.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=154&Itemid=10http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Dx7slq__udwC&pg=PT49&lpg=PT49&dq=tool+use+in+spiders+stones&source=bl&ots=WbbKkRL4uJ&sig=ApJ5kKzf57D4XIjtRQGOA3mYKvA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Lj5TUbbaHKah0QW0m4CQDA&ved=0CEoQ6AEwAwhttp://deepseacreatures.org/interesting/deep-sea-creature-that-inspired-the-alien-serieshttp://www.scienceandthesea.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=154&Itemid=10


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