# Tool-using grizzly bears? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 22, 2014, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tool-using-grizzly-bears/696241 "2014-08-22T21:51:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tool-using-grizzly-bears/696241/1 "2014-08-22T21:51:43Z")
> [@](#): > > It may no longer be good enough to hang your food in a tree to keep it away from bears when you go camping, according to a first-of-its-kind study at the Washington State University Bear Research Education and Conservation Center. > > Some — but not all — grizzlies can use primitive tools to thwart your efforts… Tool-using grizzlies? We’re pretty much doomed now. [Link from the CBC](http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/grizzly-bears-can-use-tools-study-shows-1.2743906). ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tool-using-grizzly-bears/696241/2 "2014-08-22T22:07:05Z")
Quick, somebody tell Colbert! ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tool-using-grizzly-bears/696241/3 "2014-08-23T06:18:46Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > Quick, somebody tell Colbert! Oh, believe me, he’s ON IT! “Vacation”, _My Ass!_ ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tool-using-grizzly-bears/696241/4 "2014-08-23T09:53:54Z")
Aw, man, does this mean now I’ve got to worry about bears hotwiring my car and driving off with it? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tool-using-grizzly-bears/696241/5 "2014-08-23T11:10:11Z")
> [@article](#): > > Using her paws, nine-year-old Kio flips a plastic box to position it under the hanging doughnuts to use as a footstool. She has started selecting the box over the tree stump, presumably because it is easier to manipulate. Because she’s smarter than the aaaverage bear. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tool-using-grizzly-bears/696241/6 "2014-08-23T12:19:11Z")
Because [BEARS!](http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20140721#.U_iGkmPPodU) ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tool-using-grizzly-bears/696241/7 "2014-08-23T14:24:54Z")
Well, I’m not really surprised. After all, [bears discovered fire](http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/bears-discover-fire/) almost a quarter of a century ago… ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tool-using-grizzly-bears/696241/8 "2014-08-23T14:26:53Z")
I’m not worried about bears using simple tools. When they start using power tools we’re all in trouble. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tool-using-grizzly-bears/696241/9 "2014-08-23T14:36:31Z")
That’s bad enough, but once they start using toilets they are going to thoroughly discombobulate humanity. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tool-using-grizzly-bears/696241/10 "2014-08-23T16:55:08Z")
I do not want to end up as some ‘romantic’ human skin rug, thankyouverymuch. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tool-using-grizzly-bears/696241/11 "2014-08-23T17:09:52Z")
They have as much of a right to bear arms as the next guy … more even. ---
**Author:** ![Twoflower](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/twoflower/32/22_2.png) [@Twoflower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Twoflower)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tool-using-grizzly-bears/696241/12 "2014-08-23T20:41:22Z")
The only thing that surprises me in the OP’s link is that anyone still thinks hanging food in a tree is good enough to keep it away from bears. The black bears in the Sierra had that trick figured out long ago. ---
**Author:** ![turner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/22d042/32.png) [@turner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/turner)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tool-using-grizzly-bears/696241/13 "2014-08-24T19:30:24Z")
I, for one, welcome my ursine overlords ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tool-using-grizzly-bears/696241/14 "2014-08-24T23:45:43Z")
You think that’s bad??? Now [Orcas are hunting on dry land](http://video.nationalgeographic.com.au/video/whale_killer_hunts_sealion) ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tool-using-grizzly-bears/696241/15 "2014-08-24T23:53:26Z")
> [@Ale](#): > > That’s bad enough, but once they start using toilets they are going to thoroughly discombobulate humanity. You don’t watch too many toilet paper ads, do you?