another local - Situ Two(O.gibbsi)

[DWhatley]

In the video it doesn't look like she is using the arm yet and is protecting it by keeping it mostly curled. I am trying to remember when Octane or SueNami started using their new arms normally but don't think I thought to pay attention.

I noticed she had a shell covering her beak again. I wonder if that is defensive (you would not think the mouth would be particularly vunerable), they are always eating (but you have a picture of her holding a sponge) or if it is an emergency door.

[haggs]

I assume that is more for "protection" or feel safe than anything else, not that the sponge would protect much but they seem to nearly always carry something.

[DWhatley]

I think this is a really interesting behavior. I wonder if you could get her to trade with you for another shell or some other trinket.

[haggs]

trading shells......yes .... she will do that, well she did it once. I will try it again next time.

As for her new arm, it is a bit short to use properly and it is curled up most of the time but she has "used" it or put it onto the back of my hand the otherday.

[DWhatley]

I commented on the fact that I was surprised the "let you" put your hand near the growing arm so it is interesting that you note she is the one to position herself that way.

This whole carrying around a thing has me facinated. If you get her to start trading with you, you might try to locate something shiney, something smooth, something bumpy ... and see if she shows a preference. I am betting on the shiney but I am not sure what you would use that can be left in the water and is octo safe. If you do get so far as to get her to "pick" something then it will be interesting to see if she keeps it. Since you are going into the summer, there is lots of time

I am reading a nice Roger Hanlon article that is giving me a lot of hope that Maya is a young animal - puts me in a very upbeat mood as I am getting very attached to her.

[haggs]

Ok, I'm off to the shed to see what I can find that fits your request. watch this space... as they say.

[DWhatley]

[sorseress]

What about a highly polished shiny rock from a lapidary shop? A piece of hematite maybe? You might also try one of those polished shiny round glass baubles they sell in crafts shops and florists supply places to put in the bottom of vases.

[haggs]

Today I found that Situ Two’s birthstone is not Amethyst or she just doesn’t like purple…

I went armed with….

1 piece of tumble amethyst not polished, which means that it was rounded but not smooth about 3cm long and 2cm wide (similar to a small egg in size and shape).

1 piece of CD cut and heated until I was able to make a domed shape also about 3cm across, it too was a purplish colour.

1 piece of tumbled and polished smoky quartz about 3cm roundish.

1 shiny plastic Christmas ball, a tad bigger than 2cm round on a piece of string.

And a bird toy, made from a wooden dowel about 5cm long with a wooden ball attached on either end. To this I added a few weights to one end so that it would just be enough to make it sink.

I started the same as other visits by just taking a few pictures and you could see that she had at least 2 pieces of rock that she was using as protection. I did try to remove one of the rocks but she held on to it.

Then I gave her the piece of domed CD, she felt all around that and quickly discarded it within 20 seconds. I gave it back to her and she again pushed it out of her den……. No interest at all.

Next was the piece of Amethyst, pretty much the same result. She ran her arms all over it and then pushed it out, so I put it back and touched her arm with it. She again wrapped her arm around it and pushed it right out to full arm length and left it there.

A few minutes later I tried the polished quartz, she grabbed that and immediately took it and hid it under her mantle. She still held onto both pieces of rock.

Next was the shiny plastic ball on the string, this too had a small weight just enough to stop it from floating away. At first she showed no interest so then I “pushed” some water to make it move again no interest. But when I lowered the ball a little she grabbed it … and rolled it around and around, then it was gone. I tried to pull it back off her but the knot pulled out of the ball and she would not let it go. At this point she allowed me to take one of her “protection” rocks.

I then introduced the wooden toy, no interest to begin with. Again I pushed some water to make it wobble around she soon wrapped her arms around it, feeling it all over. I too became like a new toy and wouldn’t release it, so I tried the second of her “protection” rocks. It was a trade, she let me take that one also.

She still reached out to have a play with my hand but there was no way that she was going to part with any of her new found toys. We were expecting visitors later this afternoon so I had to leave, but before I did, I fed her some fish that I had taken from the fish cleaning table next to the boat ramp as I walked past on my way to the island. Even with the free food she did not allow me to take back any of the new items, she did allow me to rub her on the head and arms while she sat outside her den busily eating.

More images to follow...

[haggs]

a couple more to come after these...

[DWhatley]

Did you keep the original protection rocks? I wonder if she will still have her new items next trip and if she will trade again for her original cache or something new and if you can get her to offer by showing her something but not letting her have it until she gives you a trade voluntarily. I wish you were videoing this, where are you interested work mates?

[haggs]

yes, I wish I could video it too, but between hanging onto the rock to keep myself under, holding the toy and the camera for the odd quick shot i'm struggling..haha maybe i should grow another arm that would help me heaps.


The others aren't ready yet.... it's still to cold for them

I never thought of keeping her rocks and re-trading, I left them not far form her den.

[DWhatley]

Obviously, I did not think of keeping the rocks either until seeing that the trading idea was accepted on the first try. It takes me much longer to get my aquarium animals acclimated to my hand and they don't carry around stuff to trade. I am making good progress with Maya but not Kaysoh (who still does not come out from behind his rocks in our presence and I am not sure if he ever comes beyond them to do anything but occassionally change sides). Did you happen to notice if her original rocks were smooth or rough? I keep thinking about dragon legends and hording things in dens, maybe there is treasure right under your mask.

I DO have empathy for trying to work a camera and play with the octo and I am on land.

Is the weather going to be good tomorrow, I am really curious what she will do next (and what you will come up with to continue the experiment).

It those things are egg sized, she must be bigger than I though (guessing originally from your hand). About how long are her arms and mantle (from behind the eyes to the tip)?

From my Norman's World Guide, there are appareantly two sizes (Steve mentioned a second name but the book is older than the new species is so both are tetricus, the smaller one is supposed to live on the Wast coast and your east coast girl is a night hunter so it is surprising she is even awake when you call. The book also mentions that there have been sightings of the female killing and eating the male after spermataphore transfer. Unfortunately, both are small egg species.

[haggs]

mmmm, I don't know what I did wrong before but I thought I had uploaded a few more images..... my bad. Anway here's the last of todays pictures.

D I did say "small egg size" The silver ball would be close to 2cm across, but it is still very deceptive in guessing her size.

At the moment it's pouring with rain and blowing a gale, well almost a gale. If it does clear enough I will try to get over to the Island after work tomorrow.

[DWhatley]

You know if someone goes snorkeling and situ two comes out with her trinkets, there is going to be a rumor started that an octo ate a baby.

[haggs]

The wind and rain disappeared during the night and this afternoon was still and calm, so off to the island I went.

I hopped into the pool and headed across towards Situ Two’s den, I stood about half a metre away and as I turned on the camera I saw her watching me. I turned the camera onto video and started to record, she was just leaving her den and swam across to greet me. I wear a size 10 boot and my feet were about 12cm apart to give you an idea of her size.
After she headed back to her den I looked around and saw the piece of polished quartz sitting on the sand immediately below her, the wooden toy had washed about a metre and half away and there was no sign of the sliver ball as it would have floated away.

I dropped the wooden toy just outside the den and within seconds she had it firmly in her hold. A few minutes later I held the piece of quartz about a metre away from her, I could see she was watch it/me and it only took a couple of twists with my left hand and she was off to get that too.

She played with my hand for a short time but seem to lose interest. As I had promised Pam (my better half) I wouldn’t be long, I gave her a bit of fish that I had taken down with me and left her to eat in piece.

[DWhatley]

This so much fun! Pam is liable to start calling Situ Two, "the other woman" by the end of the summer

I wonder if middens are more than just trash piles. Do you see other things around the den she might have collected? You might think about putting a few identifiable tumbled stones where she can find them but far enough away to see if they end up near the den.

I have noticed territorial behavior with my hummelincki's and they don't like it if I take something out of their tank or move things around. Both my males have put a warning arm on my hand while cleaning. The touch was not a curious investigation, a request to play or a pulling contest and there was no direct aggression. My interpretation was of protecting their posessions.

I could not tell from the first video but did she have something else under her webbing when she came to see you?

[haggs]

"the other woman" title has already come up...

As for the middens, they do appear to be just dump sites for discarded shells and crab skeletons, but then they don't have much of a choice in what they can collect so I might see if there is anything specific that she keeps retrieving.

I'm not sure about what she had under her mantle before but I did see her pick up another little shell prior to leaving the den.

[haggs]

I managed to get back again yesterday afternoon for an hour she wasn’t really interested in much.

I found the wooden toy 1.5 mtrs away, Situ Two must have taken it there because it was between some rocks and it would not have floated or drifted there, and the quartz was nowhere to be seen.

I made up another floating toy but she didn’t want to play with either this afternoon. Going on the amount of “long stringy poo” she was squirting out I think she had just finished digesting a big meal.

Anyway you can see in the video what her reaction was to the toys.

[haggs]

I forgot to mention that she allowed me to take her two rocks and 1 shell awy from her. There may well have been more in the bottom of her den but I was unable to see them.

As you can see in the pic that she had no more "protection" shells. This is the first time that she has reared her body back showing her underneath.