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PZ Myers is a biologist and associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris.
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Category: Cephalopods • Organisms
Posted on: January 11, 2008 2:24 PM, by PZ Myers
How sweet: this octopus got a Mr Potato Head for Christmas, and now he won't let anyone take it away.
Hasbro really must come out with a new line of Mr Potato Head features that includes beaks and suckers and tentacles, and then they'll have the cephalopod market completely locked up.
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Comments
Posted by: Matt M | January 11, 2008 2:43 PM
Louis the Octopus loves Mr. Potato Head because he has learned to suck out the food stuffed into the little hatch in the back. That food represents Mr. Potato Head's brains. Yes! Brains!
Posted by: Rich Stage | January 11, 2008 2:52 PM
Louis has made a new friend!
Perhaps this could be a new trend.
but once it's begun
it won't stop the fun
for reasons we can't comprehend.
For all of this octopus' charm,
I've heard that he will cause you harm.
I know that they're right,
I found out last night,
and I type limericks with only one arm.
You ask why he won't let it be,
why he reacts so violently?
The answer's the grin
on that plasticine chin
that screams so loud so silently.
Posted by: Kcanadensis | January 11, 2008 2:53 PM
Maybe next time, they should give him a Rubik's Cube... that will really stimulate him!
Posted by: Cuttlefish, OM | January 11, 2008 3:03 PM
As Disney and Pixar have so often told us,
The ultimate goal of a toy
Is to live in the sweet, unconditional love
Of a cute-as-a-bug girl or boy
But the truth is, the love of a boy or a girl,
Though I'm sure that it must have its charms
Could never compete with the story of Louis
Who hugs with all eight of his arms!
Posted by: Dan | January 11, 2008 3:03 PM
Don't these people know that Mr. Potato Head is a bundle of choking hazards?
Posted by: Richard Hendricks | January 11, 2008 3:26 PM
I, for one, would love to see what an octopus does with one of these:
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/rubiks-cube-for-the-blind-155779.php
Posted by: Mena | January 11, 2008 3:26 PM
I'm sorry but that's just plain cute.
Posted by: Kevin L. | January 11, 2008 3:41 PM
Awww, how sweet.
Posted by: Rey Fox | January 11, 2008 3:53 PM
I will name him George and I will hug him and squeeze him and pet him and pat him...
Posted by: Carlie | January 11, 2008 4:01 PM
1. He loves to dig out food that has been hidden inside Mr. Potato Head's back compartment.
2. He gets aggressive whenever anyone tries to remove Mr. Potato Head from his tank.
3. He's big.
4. Then how exactly does anyone obtain the Mr. Potato Head in order to hide food inside, and what did they have to do wrong in order to be chosen to be the one to do it?
Posted by: SomeDanGuy | January 11, 2008 4:31 PM
Of possible interest: Inflatable Cthulu!
http://i.somethingawful.com/u/russ/goldmine39/cthulu.jpg
Posted by: grinch | January 11, 2008 4:39 PM
Amazing what you can do with photoshop.
Posted by: anna | January 11, 2008 5:28 PM
It's not photoshop.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/cornwall/7179368.stm
"Louis regularly plays with the Mr Potato Head figure which was given to him as part of an enrichment project at Newquay's Blue Reef Aquarium."
Posted by: Dan | January 11, 2008 5:39 PM
Why Mister Potato Head and not Mrs. Potato Head?
OMG! The Louis the Octopus is teh ghey!
(Not that there's anything wrong with that.)
Posted by: esrsz22 | January 11, 2008 5:41 PM
That's not just any Potato Head, there. That's Optimash Prime. Awesome.
Posted by: Rav Winston | January 11, 2008 5:59 PM
#10-- In a related article in the Telegraph (or was it the Mirror?) it was stated that Louis plays with the toy for about an hour each day before moving on. presumably, it is after that hour of Potato-Head playtime that the toy is fished out to be stuffed with food the next day.
Posted by: Sophist, FCD | January 11, 2008 6:21 PM
I Has a Potato
Noooo they be stealin' my Potato
Posted by: Cthulhu | January 11, 2008 8:28 PM
Screw Mr. Potato Head. Just get me some heads of those creationists trying to change the laws around here. Now, THAT'S what I'm talkin' 'bout!
Posted by: donna | January 12, 2008 12:18 AM
I would totally buy a Mr. Potato Squid!
And his bucket of fun!
Posted by: Kerry Maxwell | January 12, 2008 12:37 AM
I hope there is a video follow-up to this story, or at least more pictures.
Posted by: Olaf Davis | January 12, 2008 8:36 AM
"Hasbro really must come out with a new line of Mr Potato Head features that includes beaks and suckers and tentacles"
You mean you've forgotten already, PZ?
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2006/07/coincidenceor_fate.php
Posted by: bernarda | January 12, 2008 5:04 PM
A friend gave me the DVD of not such a good Korean film "Old Boy", and here is a scene with octopus that may well shock you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSoNa2-Tqh8&feature=related
The "behind the scenes" video is also very interesting.