CALL ME FICKLE!

Dear Friends,

I know that I promised you that I would blog about one of my characters, Sebastian the Quoll, to be exact. So sorry – not gonna happen.

Well, being a woman, I am going to claim the right to change my mind. Hang in there it’s for a good reason, and I think you’ll like it. I want to write about a very interesting animal: the Octopus. No groaning now!! Although it’s a bit yucky, the octopus is a fascinating animal. It is very intelligent, and believed to be the smartest of all invertebrates, having an uncanny ability for problem solving. 

Let’s go over a few facts. First, the octopus is a cephalopod. Other cephalopods are squids, cuttlefish, and the nautilus. Second, they have arms not tentacles. Third, and strangest fact of all, octopuses have three hearts. Two of them are used to pump blood to their lungs, and the third pumps to the rest of the body. Finally, they can live as briefly as six months or as long as five years, which really isn’t very long at all.

There are a number of species of octopi. They come in a range of sizes and colors, and there is a very poisonous octopus that lives, wait for it…Australia! Surprise! The Blue-ringed octopus can be found in Australian waters. At birth it is the size of a pea, and grows to about the size of a golf ball. Although they are very poisonous, they are also very docile. They will camouflage themselves until provoked to attack. Click on the link under the picture to learn more about this deadly cephalopod. 

Everything Octopus

A recently discovered member of the octopus family is the Kissing Octopus. He’s very attractive, as you can see from the below picture, but not pretty enough to kiss. J

PICTURE CREDIT: Richard Ross

There is much more to learn about the octopus. For instance is it octopi, octopuses, or octopodes. Ummm… It bothered me too, so I offer the following video for you. It will help to settle this particular conundrum. 

You say Octopuses, I Say Octopi, or is it Octopodes?

Finally, I offer one last video for you to enjoy, and urge you to share all this information with your children. It’s just one of the many fascinating animals that I have introduced on my blog, and there is so much more to learn.

Octopus Escape

Enjoy!
J.E. Rogers