Comments on: The 8 Best Animal Tools http://www.neatorama.com/2009/01/19/the-8-best-animal-tools/ The Neat Side of the Web Thu, 16 Feb 2012 10:21:50 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Gerry http://www.neatorama.com/2009/01/19/the-8-best-animal-tools/comment-page-1/#comment-1393494 Gerry Mon, 19 Jan 2009 14:35:45 +0000 http://www.neatorama.com/?p=22141#comment-1393494 A couple of decades ago, my wife and I watched for an hour as an elephant fashioned a lever out of a five-foot-long branch and tried to pry open a gate at the Columbus OH zoo. Bales of hay had been stacked 10feet beyond their outdoor enclosure and the bull decided he REALLY wanted it. He studied the situation (you could see him working the problem) and tried everything he could to get the lever between the gate and the padlock chain. He tried everything he could but did not have the dexterity and could not get the leverage he needed to pop it. He finally got frustrated and gave up, but it was fascinating to watch him actually fashion a tool. (BTW: this was when the zoo was run by Jack Hannah who we had seen working with them since he was a teenager.) A couple of decades ago, my wife and I watched for an hour as an elephant fashioned a lever out of a five-foot-long branch and tried to pry open a gate at the Columbus OH zoo.

Bales of hay had been stacked 10feet beyond their outdoor enclosure and the bull decided he REALLY wanted it. He studied the situation (you could see him working the problem) and tried everything he could to get the lever between the gate and the padlock chain.

He tried everything he could but did not have the dexterity and could not get the leverage he needed to pop it. He finally got frustrated and gave up, but it was fascinating to watch him actually fashion a tool.

(BTW: this was when the zoo was run by Jack Hannah who we had seen working with them since he was a teenager.)

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