But now you're on your toes! And you should be!) Photo by Jon Hanson/Flickr.Īt least some species of octopus can camouflage themselves so well they look like poisonous fish or snakes to their enemies. They can also mimic other deadly sea creatures to scare the bejeezus out of potential predators.Ī seemingly ordinary poisonous water snake? An octopus? You WILL NEVER KNOW. And we've been readying our machete and flexi-straw-based defenses ever since. We've only known they could do this for about five years. Octopuses have been spotted making tools out of coconuts and shells. Yes, for these whimsically sadistic creatures, life is a laugh track, and we are the punchline. Once he figured out that shooting water at an overhead spotlight would cause the simple humans below to scramble around like chickens with their heads cut off, that's exactly what he did. Hellllloooo? Photo by Eric March/Upworthy.Īt least, that's what an octopus in Germany did, just to mess with aquarium employees. They've also been known to turn out the lights for their own petty amusement. But killing is just that important to him.Ĩ.

He definitely can't survive up there for long. Octopuses have been seen jumping up on land to ambush unsuspecting prey. Photo by Eistreter/Wikimedia Commons.Ī few strings attached, of course. just look who's waiting in the wings with a line of sweet, easy credit: It happened in Santa Monica, where an octopus commandeered a water recycling valve and proceeded to wreak havoc on the aquarium's new eco-sensitive floor.Īn innocent mistake? Or the start of a complex financial scheme that involves forcing the world's aquariums to accrue massive debt on floor maintenance, and hm. They can take apart the plumbing of their own tanks, causing sweet, soggy mayhem.Īrtists rendering. Likely, these will be the battlements humans will be storming if the forces of humanity aren't too devastated by the initial octo-assault to counterattack. Check it out.Ĭephalopod intelligence researcher Jennifer Mather reports observing octopuses building stone defensive structures outside their dens to protect themselves while they sleep. However, while 'more than one octopus = octopi' is indeed every fifth graders favorite fun fact - and our fifth graders deserve all the support and encouragement in the world - 'octopuses' is also correct, and that's the one we like best. *Right about now, you're probably flexing your fingers, gleefully preparing to type 'Um, don't you mean octopi?' into that tantalizingly eager comment field, experiencing the delicious rush stoked by the opportunity to telling a stranger on the Internet just how wrong he really is. It's hard not to shake the feeling that he's seen too much and we're doomed. Octopuses* can bust out of their aquarium tanks and find their way back to the ocean.īy now, you've probably heard the story of Inky, the New Zealand octopus that got bored sitting in an aquarium being gawked at by cranky, field-tripping children and escaped via a drainage tube that led back to the sea.

Still not convinced? Here are 13 startlingly brilliant things that octopuses appear to be able to do that no creature so goopy and gangly should be able to do.

Octopus intelligence