Actually there have been some instances where species on this planet have used tools, chimps and crows, however primitive.
As a matter of fact, we just saw on the discovery channel a week or so ago this crow literally bent a wire to use to stick down inside of bottle to hook food inside of the bottle. We watched in total shock. Again, very primitive, however the bird did make the tool and used it to successfully obtain the food to our total surprise. I understood crows were very intelligent, but this was a real eye opener to say the least.
Okay, but do you expect the crow to colonize the universe?