Bush baby news: Weapons of chimp destruction

[BuyingThyme]

Weapons of chimp destruction

By Chuck Shepherd
News of the Weird

American researchers in West Africa believe they’ve found the first instance of an animal (other than humans) building a multi-step weapon, after observing wild chimpanzees grab sticks from 1 to 4 feet long, sharpen the ends with their teeth, and murderously jab them into deep tree hollows where delicious bush babies may be nesting. Writing in the journal Current Biology, the team even reported observing the chimps tasting the tips after the stabs, to ascertain whether they had actually located a prey. (One of the researchers said the ferocity of the jabbing reminded her of the shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho.”)

http://www.mankatofreepress.com/webextra/local_story_112165811.html?keyword=secondarystory