By their hands versus With their hands

[Attila]

Hi All,

I heard recently on TV the sentence:

People digging by their bare hands.

Why not with their bare hands?

[Mister Micawber]

.
If it were written, it would be with. I presume that the speaker is rushed or stressed, and s/he would then be liable to say all sorts of not-so-grammatical things.
.
_________________
Canadian-American native speaker
who teaches English for a living at Mister Micawber's
ESL cafe: Interview with Mister Micawber