The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1899-11-19

A HIDEous cREATuRE TO coNTEM
PLATE IS THE QcToPUs.
The snakclike Way I'm which It At
tacks Its Victims and Endeavors to
Crush Them In It's Shiny and writh-
ing Tentacles.

One of the most disagreeable animals
of the sea to handle or contemplate Is
the octupus. The tangle of arms. the
snakelike movements, the strange
flashes Of color. the green glittering
eyes, are all features that arouse a
strong feeling Of aversion on the part
of the observer. have had under oh
servation several octopi at the Santa
Catalina aquarium. and 1t has been In
teresting TO note the characteristic fea-
lures of the various individuals. In a
small tank were confined three indi-
viduals having radial spread OF per-
haps IS inches. One affected a light
yellow hue and was timid, sulking be-
hind rock. Another. of n dark reddish
cast, was continually flourishing its
tentacles rising and falling on the side
of the glass until an observer nick
named it the skirt dancer" A third
was almost black, and was a vindic-
tive fellow, ready at any time to make
an attack. When introduced my hand
into the tank, this octopus would
as quick as a flash send out one
long attenuated tentacle and coil
about it; then If an advance was made
it would suddenly release its hold upon
the rock and quickly encompass my
hand with it's eight arms. pressing the
round serrated disks into the flesh
while a tremulous motion would be
felt.
At the first attack of this kind the
sensation was one of horror. The hid
eous creature fiattened out. assimilat-
ing the color of the flesh to a marked
degree and evidently endeavoring' to
smother the hand with its folds, as the
tentacles were distended to their ut
most limit. To hold the hand firm
under such circumstances required
some effort. and 1 confess when it was
first attempted. with a Florida speci-
men, / beat n rapid and decided re-
treat; but in the latter case l waited
to see if the animals object was to
bite, knowing that the bill OF so small
a specimen could not make a serious
wound. But the octopus merely pressed
it's mouth on the back of my hand, ap-
parently trying to intimidate the sup
posed enemy. While fastened to the
hand, it still held TO the rock, and 1t
was with difficulty released. When I
remained quiet, the animal began to
creep along like huge spider, but at
the first movement of my fingers ii
| pounced upon my hand again, envelop-
ing it in the eight snakelike arms.
| finally twisted out of its grasp and
seized it firmly by the body, when its
rage became intense. Flushes of color
passed over it in rapid succession; now
red. black. yellow and when at the
height of it's anger it was mottled and
splashed with black-a frightful crea-
ture. 1t made a desperate effort to es-
cape. but when released elected a cloud
of ink, darting off rapidly under its Gov
er. This octopus resented any intrusion
and advanced to the attack at once
When strange octopus was placed in
the tank, although much larger, it came
out of its corner without hesitation
eyed the newcomer a moment, then in
some incomprehensible way hurled it.
self at the enemy, and in a second the
! two We're rolling over and over in a
contest that was amazing to witness
| The 16 tentacles wound about each
other with the rapidity of light, and
both animals elected the inky fluid
from their siphons. They resembled
g ball of snakes rolling along and
striking at each other more than any
thing else. A close examination of the
writhing mass showed that the object
apparently was to smother the oppo.
nent Finally, the newcomer beat a
retreat; it was badly wounded and sue
cumbed few hours later:
The octopus is n favorite subject
with popular writer's on natural his
tory, and many accounts have been
written of its ferocity, which are al.
most invariably denied by naturalists
yet l am inclined to think that in some
instances certain individuals are more
or less pugnacious l have handled
scores of them from the gulf of Mexi
CO and California and observed only
one instance-the one cited-where the
animal deliberately rushed to the at
tack, though / know of two others
One was observed by Mr.. Ralph Ar.
mold. geologist of Pasadena. He was
wading among the pools at low tide
at Point San Pedro when suddenly he
| hCAiN a. SAJb anu, tulAinS, saw SOlut
children in a pool, wading and moving
toward them a large octopus, it's long
arms raised above the water. Whether
the animal would have attempted to
attack them Is question, as it was
interrupted in a more or less violent
manner. A resident of Washington
told me that once when visiting the
shore he>waS advised by the fisherman
with him to avoid the pools and when
1t became necessary to cross them tc
pass over as quickly as possible, as
large octopi frequented them. He con.
sidered this the exaggeration of a fish
erman and paid but little attention to
it; but once in crossing pool, stepping
from stone to stone, suddenly long
lvid arm shot out of the water and
reached insinuatingly for his legs, the
| QOfiro animal un0vin0 ranid1v foxvo I'd