Reidman and Estes think most of the otters' habits, good and bad, come from what their mammas taught them. Pups tend to prefer and seek out their mothers' favorite foods, and apparently also to use whatever tools their mothers used. The Monterey observers think their study subjects may show a range of bad behavior because they have a hard time making a living in Monterey Bay. Just as students of human behavior claim, poverty can make you forget your manners. Still, cute and charming animals may not lead charming lives even under the best of conditions.
Some experts even assert, if quietly, that giant pandas are actually surly, ill-behaved brutes.