a few fun octopus facts:
their arms are similar to our tongues in that their muscle fibers are Ā oriented in three different directionsĀ
octopuses are disconcertingly strong (anecdotal evidence says that a 15 inch wide octopus was as strong as the scientist handling it)
on that note that same scientist said that when her octopuses escaped she would have to run behind them, ālike catsā (paraphrased from sy montgomeryās the soul of an octopus)
aquariums haveĀ āoctopus enriching programsā so they donāt get bored and fuck shit up in their tanks
they are crazy smart like. really. really fucking smartĀ
but we canāt compare their intelligence to ours because our evolution branched from the same common ancestor so long ago we cannot comprehend how they think
itās believed that their intelligence evolved when they lost their shell, and had to adapt to predict how countless of different prey and predators would act, how to avoid them, distract them, lure them or trick themĀ
they visualize how other creatures are going to act, which means they have haveĀ awareness that others are individuals which is a type of consciousness but i canāt remember what itās called right nowĀ
like, they use toolsĀ
they have distinct personalitiesĀ
aquarium octopuses are socialized from a very young age and even though in the wild they are solitary creatures they become extremely friendly with enough human exposure
sometimes they dislike people for no apparent reason and will shoot water at them
they have three heartsĀ
each of their arms has a tiny brain that controls movement and sensory input on its own i shit you not
they are color blind and yet they can camouflage their color and nobody knows howĀ
they can change the color and texture of their skin faster than human eyes can keep up with it
great pacific octopuses are white when they are peaceful, and red when theyāre excitedĀ
aquarium octopus have escaped their tanks and slithered down pipes into the oceanĀ
escaped their tanks to eat the fish in other tanksĀ
escaped their tanks to go fight other octopuses cuz they were bored
octopus fight club
learned how to take photographs
cost thousands of dollars by flooding new floors
they can feel, taste, and smell with their suckers and all of their skin
they enjoy tasting their food by slowly moving it through their suckers instead of shoving it in their beaks
they can rewrite their rna. no, really
the only reason why they havenāt evolved to take over as the next dominant race is because theyāre doing pretty well Ā in the ocean so thereās no need for them to adapt furtherĀ
thereās a ton more but iām so overwhelmed by love i canā think of any at the moment iām going to cry
read the soul of an octopus by sy mongomery no she didnāt pay me i just love octopuses so muchĀ
Also:
learned to shoot out the annoying light over the tank
hid in floor drains when caught out of their tanks by researchers
hid the shells of crabs stolen from a tank under a third, unrelated tank
Sy is a wonderful human and a great researcher. NEAq actually named a GPO after her in honor of all her work on octopuses. (Or octopi, or octopodes - theyāre all correct). Definitely read that book.Ā
-liked being splashed. Figured out that spitting water would have keepers splash back in response
- learned to spray 45Ā°F water everywhere to demand splashes
-likes taking brushes from divers. Knows the best way to do this was to sneak up from underneath or reach over the shoulder
-will wait until keepers are looking away/distracted to grab stuff and knows exactly how far to sink down to get out of reach
-seriously octos are huge thieves. If you have something in your hand, they want it. As soon as they grab it, it belongs to them. Thereās no food and they have no use for it? Doesnāt matter itās their thing now.
-we lost a magnet scrubber for three days because one stole it from the interns. Every time she let it go and we reached a net to get it, she would snatch it out of the net and drag it back into the den. By the time we got it back she had torn apart the scrub pad
-honestly itās like keeping an aquatic possessive 8-legged cat
All iām getting from this is
Cats, corvids, and octopi
Land air and sea
