[Magdalen] Great octopus tonight!

[Sally Davies]

No blue ringed octopi here...

Our oceans are a lot friendlier than Australia's, though we do have to
contend with Great Whites (and a few other sharks that occasionally bite),
as well as Bluebottles or Portuguese Men O' War which are not lethal but
can sure ruin a day at the beach.

In terrestrial rivers and lakes we have hippos and crocs which you wouldn't
want to meet in either case.

It's said though that our most lethal creature by far is the mosquito,
though there's no malaria this far South. No crocs either or hippos outside
of game reserves.

What we need are more Ocean based conservancies and vigorous protection of
wildlife especially the rhino which is just an ongoing heartache and
massive tragedy.

Sally D

On 11 March 2015 at 23:02, Lesley de Voil <lesleymdv at gmail.com> wrote:

> Make sure you (or Evan)  don't try anything with small octopi the next
> time you come to OZ, Sally. The blue-ringed octopus (usually smaller
> than the palm of your hand) has a very toxic venom. It is tempting to
> pick it up but it will bite! Read the Wiki:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue-ringed_octopus
> I see this genus exists in the Indian Ocean. Do they come as far south
> as where you are?
>
> I agree, they are quite intelligent creatures.
>
> Regards
> Lesley de Voil
>
> On 3/12/15, sally.davies at gmail.com <sally.davies at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Well, I thought so. You could actually see it's thought process, "Oh
> crap,
> > this is an even worse place, let me go back where I was before and take
> my
> > chances". When moving across the floor of the pool the octopus was
> > completely exposed, more so than in the deeper (but still exposed) area
> it
> > had fled to, so it looked very much as though a costs/benefits
> calculation
> > was going on!!
> >
> > I eventually persuaded a reluctant Evan to leave "Octo-bro" in peace
> under
> > her rock. He's 13 now and has turned into a real teenager most of the
> time,
> > but sometimes he's just the same as he has been since he could walk and
> > talk, i.e. always ready to dramatise a situation and to turn anything
> into
> > his new BFF.
> >
> > Sally D
> > On Wed, 11 Mar 2015 at 22:34 Marion Thompson <marionwhitevale at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> >> They are also highly intelligent.
> >>
> >> Marion, a pilgrim
> >>
> >> On 3/11/2015 4:18 PM, Grace Cangialosi wrote:
> >> > At an amazing Chinese luncheon prepared by the wife of a seminarian
> >> > from
> >> Hong Kong, I found myself staring at one small tentacle on a bit of
> >> lettuce--all that was left of the salad. There was no way I could put
> >> those
> >> suction cups in my mouth, so I asked the classmate on my left if he
> would
> >> like it, and we made the transfer undetected.
> >> > Yesterday someone posted a video on YouTube showing the amazing
> >> camouflage capabilities of octopus and another showing a rather large
> one
> >> passing through an incredibly small hole to get from a boat into the
> >> water.
> >> They certainly are odd creatures...
> >> >
> >> >> On Mar 10, 2015, at 10:41 PM, Kate Conant <kate.conant at gmail.com>
> >> wrote:
> >> >>
> >> >> While fixing pork chops for the rest of the family, I prepared baby
> >> octopus
> >> >> in my pressure cooker for me.  This was frozen (and thawed first) and
> >> >> already cleaned.  It came out very tender after 20 minutes.
> >> >>
> >> >> I'll be eating this for the next few days. Tonight I had it with
> lemon
> >> >> juice and pilaf and sugar snaps.
> >> >>
> >> >> Kate
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >> "What does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, love mercy,
> and
> >> walk
> >> >> humbly with your God?"
> >> >> Micah 6:8
> >>
> >>
> >
>