4 ms·

IIRC that should count as using tools, but that's still a step away from making tools.

• OJFord 4y ago
  Are nests tools for child-rearing? Or is that making furniture without the use of tools?
  • mc32 4y ago
    Beavers make dams and build lodges. Bees build hives and have division of labor… at dome point we have to declare a cutoff.
    • OJFord 4y ago
      Sure, I just think it's interesting, and that surely you do need to think about why you're interested in whether an animal 'makes' or uses 'tools' to know where that cut-off should be, otherwise it's a bit arbitrary and self-fulfilling ('only humans and some apes use tools' ... 'where tool is defined as a manufactured object held in the hand'!) isn't it?
    • macinjosh 4y ago
      IIRC, Bees build their hives with their own secretions. I see this as categorically different than animals that make nests out of various items laying around. In the case of a beaver I think it is more advanced than a birds nest because they actually harvest specific trees instead of using what’s on the ground already.