Cow using a Tool

I know tool use isn't a uniquely human trait, though it sometimes is considered to relate to intelligence.

Cow astonishes scientists with rare use of tools

Scientists are rethinking what cattle are capable of after an Austrian cow named Veronika was found to use tools with impressive skill.

The discovery, reported by researchers in Vienna, suggests cows may have far greater cognitive abilities than previously assumed.

Veronika, a cow living in a mountain village in the Austrian countryside, has spent years perfecting the art of scratching herself using sticks, rakes, and brooms.

Word of her behaviour eventually reached animal intelligence specialists in Vienna, who found Veronika used both ends of the same object for different tasks.

[Laird]

This was also reported in an article in the ABC News feed that I monitor:

Scientific study documents Austrian cow using a tool
Elsie Adamo
2026-01-21

And in The Guardian as linked by the Daily Grail:

Back-scratching bovine leads scientists to reassess intelligence of cows
Ian Sample
2026-01-20

Years ago I saw video of a cow using her horns to unlatch a latch that was restricting her to an enclosure, and then, I seem to remember, free her companions in the same manner, maybe even showing them how to free themselves (although that might be stretching that memory a little; I've never been able to relocate the video to check it).

I'm not especially surprised by either that nor by another cow using a broom to scratch herself, but it does please me.