Check out these crafty crows and other cunning creatures

These crows might not look very crafty, but it turns out they're a lot more creative than we knew.

These New Caledonian crows make hooks from bits of plants.

This helps them dig around into places like tree holes to capture their prey more easily, and "fish" for tasty treats like grubs and spiders.

Scientists have carried out an experiment, and found that when the crows use the hooked tools, they're 10 times faster at getting their snack than using just a simple twig! Crafty!

But crows aren't the only animals using tools to make their lives a bit easier.

Check out these creative creatures...

Chimpanzees

In a lot of ways chimpanzees behave a bit like us humans, so perhaps we shouldn't be too surprised that they're putting their creative talents into action.

Often they use sticks as tools, fishing for ants or termites. They've also been known to shape stones and use them to help crack open nuts.

But some of the other tools they're thought to have made are pretty impressive.

Archaeologists have found stone hammers at a chimp settlement in the Ivory Coast.

Some even think the chimps may be intelligent enough to make spears that are used for hunting.

Sea Otters

They may look cute but they're actually pretty cunning when it comes to filling their bellies.

Sea otters have a little pouch of loose skin across their chest, and when they're out hunting they use it to carry a little hammer made from rock.

They can use this tool to help prise creatures like abalones from rocks, which cling on incredibly tightly.

And the hammer also comes in handy when they want to dig into dinner.

Imagine how frustrating it would be to have a load of delicious shellfish and not be able to crack through the shell.

Elephants

Elephants are among the most intelligent animals in the world, with brains larger than any other land animal.

So what kind of ingenious ideas have they come up with?

Elephants are known to break branches to the ideal lengths they want for swatting at flies. Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best.

But there's also stories of them coming up with more tactical plans too - for example plugging up water holes with balls of chewed bark to keep other animals from drinking them dry.