The white-headed capuchin also uses tools in other ways. It has been known to beat snakes with sticks in order to protect itself or to get the snake to release an infant. In captivity, it has been known to use tools to get to food or to defend itself, and in one case a white-headed capuchin used a squirrel monkey as a projectile, hurling it at a human observer. Some populations also use trees or other hard surfaces as anvils in order to crack mollusks. And it sometimes uses sticks as probes to explore openings.