After we finished
And there we saw the most
This.
 |
| It's an octopus. That was probably obvious. |
The octopus appeared to be.... well.... floundering. I don't know much about things with tentacles, but I'm pretty sure they need to be in water to survive.
I decided to rescue it. As I
a) don't know how to rescue marine life, and
b) didn't intend to touch the repulsive thing,
I had to come up with an alternate plan.
And then he showed up.
"Hello!" I said to the nice man nearby. "Will you rescue this poor octopus?"
 |
| This man is an Octopus Hunter. So we can't show you his face on the internet. |
Matt turned out to live up the road but had no idea how to rescue octopi either. Or even if octopi was the correct plural form. (Okay, we didn't actually discuss that part of it.)
The kids and Matt and I stood considering the problem.
 |
| Pondering. |
 |
| Yeah. That didn't work. |
 |
| Do you reckon this is the head? |
 |
| She was wearing a hat. I'm sure that helped. |
Eventually, they dragged the creature out to sea. The girl had to go home. As the kids and I cheered, Matt stood quietly in the water and contemplated his great triumph.
 |
| Matt the Hero, Octopus Saviour. |
We bade farewell to our new friend, and my daughter built an effigy in the sand to remind us all of the creature we left behind.
I suspect they both got swept away pretty quickly. But hey. We tried.
Have you ever rescued a real life living creature???
I am a bit of an animal lover so that may be the reason I got so engrossed in this story. That and I was picturing an Enid Blyton by the sea adventure..... ah I miss the Famous Five. The Famous Five would have dealt with that octopus in 12 chapters!
ReplyDeleteI accidentally ran over an eight foot long python, stopped, picked it up (it wasn't happy about me at that stage), put it in the boot and took it to the vet. They kept it for two weeks to make sure it was ok, then released it. Several birds, a kitten wandering on Ipswich Rd Brisbane, a toddler that I found in the same place as the kitten a couple of years later, and another toddler on a main road in Mt Gravatt.
ReplyDeleteI take spiders outside in a jar. I always squeal while doing so. x
ReplyDeleteKerri, I'm pretty sure that was Frankie, Hardys Bays local famously tame octopus who comes into the shallows every day to eat tidbits left by the locals and choose the winners for the weekend footy games. Oh well. There's always tomorrow, Frankie. :(
ReplyDeleteThere is a running joke about plurals in our house, between the Viking and his brother. Both are historians, and his brother knows Latin.
ReplyDeleteThey would have told you it was octopoid (and then possibly giggled uncontrollably).
I rescue lizards from my house a lot. Once I rescued a sugar glider from a cat and took it to wires. It was such a sweet little thing and wouldn't let go of my fingers. The wires people didn't seem to believe me when I said it wasmy cat. But she took one look at it and ran away. A mighty hunter, she is.
Wasn't* my cat
ReplyDeleteThat is an awesome story. Except... what is a sugar glider?????
ReplyDeleteBut... but... we've been coming here for 16 years and we've never seen him! Ever! And the two locals who helped us hadn't seen him either!!!!
ReplyDeleteYou are a great humanitarian. Or... arachnitarian?
ReplyDeleteWOW. You are a veritable Good Samaritan!!!!
ReplyDeleteOr eight chapters. One for each tentacle.
ReplyDeleteTiny possum-like-thing. You don't know sugar glider???
ReplyDeleteThe kids found a tiny baby gecko on our hallway floor the other day - he's very lucky he didn't get stepped on! We put him under a glass, had a bit of a look and a science lesson, then put him out in the garden.
ReplyDeleteCrap, no I haven't! I need to add this to my resume though, surely!
ReplyDeleteAnd it serves me right for giving cheek, too. :) (blushes, pulls head in xx )
ReplyDeleteHere, I wrote about rescuing the sugar glider (and posted the pics) here: http://kikiandtea.com/2012/04/the-rescued-sugar-glider-wires/
ReplyDeleteI do need to read with my glasses on, I read your title as A Pictorial Essay with testicals. Had to read the whole post twice, then the title again.
ReplyDeleteI think our marine life rescuing skills are on par with one another. And I grew up on the water.
ReplyDeleteI always love a happy ending with a rescued animal story.
ReplyDeleteBeing crazy animal lovers my husband and I can't go a month without rescuing something or other - blue tongues, lost dogs, baby birds etc. No doubt half of them are probably on their way to somewhere interesting and we're just the annoying people who take them back home :)