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Otto the Octopus


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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics...ecks-havoc.html

I'd heard they were clever like.

 

A octopus has caused havoc in his aquarium by performing juggling tricks using his fellow occupants, smashing rocks against the glass and turning off the power by shortcircuiting a lamp.

Staff believe that the octopus called Otto had been annoyed by the bright light shining into his aquarium and had discovered he could extinguish it by climbing onto the rim of his tank and squirting a jet of water in its direction.

 

The short-circuit had baffled electricians as well as staff at the Sea Star Aquarium in Coburg, Germany, who decided to take shifts sleeping on the floor to find out what caused the mysterious blackouts.

 

A spokesman said: "It was a serious matter because it shorted the electricity supply to the whole aquarium that threatened the lives of the other animals when water pumps ceased to work.

 

"It was on the third night that we found out that the octopus Otto was responsible for the chaos.

 

"We knew that he was bored as the aquarium is closed for winter, and at two feet, seven inches Otto had discovered he was big enough to swing onto the edge of his tank and shoot out the 2000 Watt spot light above him with a carefully directed jet of water."

 

Director Elfriede Kummer who witnessed the act said: "We've put the light a bit higher now so he shouldn't be able to reach it. But Otto is constantly craving for attention and always comes up with new stunts so we have realised we will have to keep more careful eye on him - and also perhaps give him a few more toys to play with.

 

"Once we saw him juggling the hermit crabs in his tank, another time he threw stones against the glass damaging it. And from time to time he completely re-arranges his tank to make it suit his own taste better - much to the distress of his fellow tank inhabitants."

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:D

 

One of the workers at the sea life centre in Tynemouth told me that an octopus in another centre regularly waited until the place shut at night, climbed into another tank, ate the inhabitants, before climbing back into his own tank as if nothing had happened. The perplexed staff couldn't explain the disappearing sea life until they installed CCTV. I always thought it was bullshit mind, but you never know.

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Probably all true.

 

They are a nightmare to keep secured, they can open most anything you can (that isn't key locked etc.) and can get through absolutely tiny gaps.

Saw a tv programme about octopuses once whereby this research lab had constructed all these different tanks to study them. For example one had a concave bottom so they could view the beak of a feeding octopus and so on. Another one consisted of two tanks connected by a small tube. The scientists were able to surmise that octopuses (or at least certain species) could get through a gap that only had to be large enough (plus a little bit of leeway) to allow their eyes to pass through.

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Probably all true.

 

They are a nightmare to keep secured, they can open most anything you can (that isn't key locked etc.) and can get through absolutely tiny gaps.

Saw a tv programme about octopuses once whereby this research lab had constructed all these different tanks to study them. For example one had a concave bottom so they could view the beak of a feeding octopus and so on. Another one consisted of two tanks connected by a small tube. The scientists were able to surmise that octopuses (or at least certain species) could get through a gap that only had to be large enough (plus a little bit of leeway) to allow their eyes to pass through.

 

Yup, probably just as well for us they never conquered the land issue.

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Probably all true.

 

They are a nightmare to keep secured, they can open most anything you can (that isn't key locked etc.) and can get through absolutely tiny gaps.

Saw a tv programme about octopuses once whereby this research lab had constructed all these different tanks to study them. For example one had a concave bottom so they could view the beak of a feeding octopus and so on. Another one consisted of two tanks connected by a small tube. The scientists were able to surmise that octopuses (or at least certain species) could get through a gap that only had to be large enough (plus a little bit of leeway) to allow their eyes to pass through.

Apparently they can move their internal organs around inside their body to aide passage through small gaps.

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