h a l f b a k e r yThe leaning tower of Piezo
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So my main aversion toward getting a pet octopus is that it's stuck in its little tank all day long, which is not only pretty boring for me, but it's likely rather dull for the octopus as well. Wouldn't it be great, the octopus would think, if I could wander around this apartment like the free-spirited
cuddly that I actually am?
I propose a sort of glove, something like a wet suit with eight long fingers for tentacles, and perhaps a clear dome on top for your pet's head. Just slip one of these on and your sea creature is free to roam! Decorate it with fake hair, leopard print, etc.. put suction cups on the bottom so the octopus can climb around on things more naturally, etc. Take it for walks in the park, play fetch, pet it, sleep next to it, let it attack the neighbor's pets by latching onto their faces.. SO much better than a cat.
Shoulder perch for koi
http://www.halfbake...20perch_20for_20koi
Similar general direction. [jutta, Apr 05 2002]
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Except that the octopus wouldn't be able to move (much) without the buoyancy of the water supporting it. |
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Keep it in the swimming pool. |
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Yeah, it'd have to be an augmented-strength suit, much more complicated. But the visualization of an octopus playing fetch in the park is appealing. |
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Who was the famous curmudgeon who walked a lobster on a leash? "I like lobsters...they're quiet, and they know the secrets of the sea." Or something like that, he said. |
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Install a pet door? Ha! My octopus just squishes underneath when he wants to go in or out. Fetch? Ha! My octopus fetches sticks eight at a time. Frisbee? Ha! My octopus clings onto frisbee while we play catch when he's not playing catch with upwards of eight Frisbee *ummm* tossers. Vacuum? Ha! My octopus uses it's 1,920 suction cups to keep the place spotless. |
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Answer: it was the French poet Gerard de Nerval. Quoth he, in French, I assume, "Why should a lobster be any more ridiculous than a dog...or any other animal that one chooses to take for a walk? I have a liking for lobsters. They are peaceful, serious creatures. They know the secrets of the sea, they don't bark, and they don't gnaw upon one's monadic privacy like dogs do. And Goethe had an aversion to dogs, and he wasn't mad." |
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Surely the same could be said in the case of an octopus, especially the part about Goethe. |
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thumbwax: I'll bet your octopus is superbly trainable, too, being the most intelligent of molluscs. |
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This idea would integrate nicely into the idea of wearing live animals as hats. |
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Perhaps a Northumberland pipes sort of underarm pump device. |
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Why - yes, Dog Ed - The lil' feller is "begging" right now - Wish you could see him... 4 pairs of tentacles clasped together as he gives me the "feed meeeeee" look with his rectangularly pupiled eye. Inquisitive little cephalopod, too - the critter never even has to focus - no matter how far away anything is. Excellent home protection. |
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Darn, I thought it read Octopussy Glove. |
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Octopuses when under stress have been known to eat themselves. True story. So if you don't make it really comfortable you may just find your octopus's suit is rapidly empty. |
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Who's fishing this great Far-Side-ish idea? I lke it.
What's next? A robotic terrestrial body for fish? |
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The other concern I had about the octopus glove is that dispelling of ink when it gets frightened. Maybe that could be rerouted with tubing in the suit (probably an accessory, not built-in) as a little toy gun that the octopus can learn to hold in a tentacle. All the kids would want it on their water gun fight team. |
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Why not install a network of perspex tubes throughout your house, giving your octopus freedom to roam. |
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Why not just build your house under water and you wear scuba gear all day? |
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At least some octopi *can* crawl out of water; I recall a nature show where a blue-ringed octopus in Australia was shown crawling between tidal pools. |
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And I heard a story (perhaps apocryphal) of a public aquarium where fish were mysteriously disappearing overnight. Eventually, someone stayed behind to see what was going on, and it turns out an octopus was crawling out of its tank, across the floor, and into another tank where it would feed, before returning to its original tank. |
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Now, what I thought this would be about from the title, is a glove that provides the prehensile tentacles of an octopus. With that, I could easily open any jar (and trap my hand inside!) |
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[+] for allowing an octopus free reign of the house, although, as [nprnncbl] points out, many celaphopods are capable of leaving the water for varying periods of time. |
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I personally believe that the main barrier to greater human/octopus interaction is fur, or more accurately, the lack of it. Were we to breed (engineer?) some form of land-loving octopus with a light dusting of short, but strokable fur, these creatures would surely be at the top of everyone's preferred pet lists in a matter of instants. |
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