The octopus who loves his Mr Potato Head

[neoprodigy]

The octopus who loves his Mr Potato Head
Friday, January 11, 2008

Louis the octopus clearly thinks two heads are better than one when it comes to toys.

The 1.8m-wide (6ft) creature is so attached to Mr Potato Head that he turns aggressive when aquarium staff try to remove it from his tank.

The giant Pacific octopus was given the toy for Christmas and has even learned to dig out food hidden in a secret box at the back of it.

 

[davo]

LOL

 

[Weylin]

Very cute..

 

[Death Pony]

That's funny!!!! Aw, he likes it!

 

[Jam17]

quaily my flower horn goes mental if i where my man u tee shirt lol he must be a blue
hehe

 

[Stone Like Fish]

Neat, how come it has a potato head toy though?

 

[Mystix212]

Throw him a Miss Potato Head and see he's reaction.

 

[Zoodiver]

Neat, how come it has a potato head toy though?

GPOs (well, any octo really) have shown higher levels of intelligence... some where right around a 4 year old kid. Places often times give puzzles, mazes and toys to play with. Mr Potato Head has that great pocket in the back. Load it with shrimp, fish or some other food and toss him in the tank. The octo will figure out how to get the food out. Same with jars that have screw on lids, acrylic boxes with sliding doors or pivoting hatches. They learn quickly.


Edit: You can't see it too well, but this one just unscrewed the lid from a jar that it's holding to get it's food for the day (pic taken at Houston's Downtown Aquarium).

 

[oceanobsession289]

Yeah, absolutley one of my favorite animals ever! So intelligent! Thought to be one of, if not the most intelligent invertebrates in the world.
Him becoming aggressive when you take the potato head away is just like a human child throwing a temper tantrum when they don't get they toy they want.
There are lots of awesome things about the octopus that a lot of people have no idea about but would find absolutley amazing. Some people would probably not eat them if they knew all the neat stuff they are capable of.

In case you haven't already seen this video.
http://www.planetvids.com/html/Octopus-Crawls-Through-Maze.html

 

[importracer]

I had an Octopus one time....Those things do not live that long in captivity...Then again, it is not the Giant variant but those miniature ones they sell for $20-30 in the store....SInce I do live by some tidal pools, I guess I could try catching one of these Giant Octopuses....I am guessing they live longer than their smaller counterparts....