Houdini Octopus

Photo: New England Aquarium

How do you keep your octopi from getting bored? The New England Aquarium in Boston decided to give 'em a little puzzle to solve:

Truman, a 7-foot-long, 30-pound octopus at the New England Aquarium squeezed his body into a 14-inch square acrylic box today in pursuit of food, aquarium officials said. [...]

The idea was for Truman to release the latch on the larger box then release the latch of the smaller one to get his food. And staff expected Truman not to get to work until after the aquarium closed and it was dark, because octopi typically prey on other animals at night.

But Truman was impatient. He got to work right away. And rather than undoing the latch on the larger box, he squeezed his legs and large head through a two-inch hole in the larger box.

"The speculation is that the crabs were active and he got excited ... and decided, Whoa!, there's lunch," said aquarium spokesman Tony LaCasse.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2009/03/a_box_full_of_o.html?p1=Well_MostPop_Emailed4

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by JKirchartz.