Octopus Attempts to Escape Jar, With Unusual Results

An undated photo showing harvested octopus on ice at a market. A British driver who said he "swerved to avoid an octopus" before crashing his car had taken a cocktail of drugs, a court in the UK has heard. (Pixabay)

Forget “Planet of the Apes.” It should be “Planet of the Octopi,” as seen in the footage below:

The eight-armed mollusk is placed into a plastic jar and the lid screwed on. The octopus then uses its arms and suction cups to remove the lid.

However, the animal doesn’t leave its enclosure, and likely sees it as protection.

Apparently, it’s common:

In 2014, as Scientific American noted, an octopus set “a record for jar opening.”

“The treat-in-a-jar trick has long been a favorite activity to give octopuses in aquariums. Just like humans, octopuses get faster at these manipulation tasks with practice. And one octopus in New Zealand might just have broken the jar-opening speed record, using his many suckers to twist off a cap and grab his meaty prize—all in under a minute, the Marlborough Express reported today,” the report said.

And it’s been noted that octopi are smart relative to other animals.

“The two of you look at each other. This one is small, about the size of a tennis ball. You reach forward a hand and stretch out one finger, and one octopus arm slowly uncoils and comes out to touch you. The suckers grab your skin, and the hold is disconcertingly tight. Having attached the suckers, it tugs your finger, pulling you gently in. . . . Behind the arm, large round eyes watch you the whole time,” wrote Callum Roberts, who is a professor of marine conservation at the University of York in Britain and the author of “The Ocean of Life: The Fate of Man and the Sea.”

Man Picks Up Deadly Octopus

A tourist filmed himself picking up a deadly blue-ringed octopus with his bare hands, and Australian locals said it was a bad idea.

According to News.com.au, the video had Chinese text accompanying it.

“Such a beautiful octopus,” it said in Chinese.

The person then shakes off the octopus after they were done filming it.

The blue-ringed octopus is one of the deadliest animals and can kill a person within minutes with its venom.

Commenters were stunned by the tourist’s audacity.

“Do they even know how lucky they are to be alive after doing something that monumentally stupid?” one person said.

“This is how tourists become statistics,” another said.

The Ocean Conservancy says the octopus’ “psychedelic coloring and pint-sized packaging make it seem more adorable than alarming. But don’t let its cuddly exterior fool you: this tiny octopus can kill you. And quickly.”

The mollusk is native to the Pacific Ocean and is found in shallow tide pools and coral reefs.

“When not seeking food or a mate, blue-ringed octopuses often hide in crevices, shells or marine debris. If you catch them outside of their cozy hiding spots, it’s easy to see how the animal gets its name: when threatened, bright blue rings appear all over its body as a warning signal to potential predators,” it says.

The venom is about 1,000 times more potent than cyanide and can kill 26 people in minutes, the website says.

“The venom is produced by symbiotic bacteria in the animal’s salivary glands and is more toxic than that of any land mammals. It’s primarily used when hunting: the octopus captures crabs, shrimp and small fish by pecking through its prey’s exoskeleton with its beak and inserting the venom. Then it will use its beak to pick off meat while its prey remains helplessly paralyzed. In the end, only the tough outer shell of its prey remains,” the website says.