One For Jean - Dunedin 100 Year Old Octo story

DWhatley

Kraken
Staff member
Moderator (Staff)
Joined
Sep 4, 2006
Messages
21,018
Location
Cape Coral, FL
Dunedin Resident Battles Octopus - Otago Daily Times

Mon, 29 Apr 2013
100 Years Ago

A well-known resident of Dunedin met with a somewhat startling adventure with an octopus while fishing in the Lower Harbour a couple of days ago.
He was engaged in his favourite pastime from the rocky shore near the Acclimatisation Society's hatchery below Portobello. In his company were his wife and his young son.

His attention was drawn to some unusual appearance among the rocks and seaweed near him, and was attracted by the iridescent tints shown by an octopus, which also had a companion. Well acquainted with the malevolence of the octopus, he became possessed with a desire to kill it.

For this purpose he improvised a spear by fastening an opened pocket-knife to the butt end of his fishing rod. With this weapon he inflicted one stab on the devil fish. Its iridescent hues faded into a dull greyness, and its eyes gleamed with an appearance of fiendish hate and ferocity.

Instead of beating a retreat to the deep water not far away, the octopus actually left the shallow water and seemed imbued with malevolence, its eyes gleaming with unquenchable hate.

Its appearance was so terrifying that the lady screamed and fled, taking her son with her, and leaving her husband to battle alone with the monster, of which the tentacles were at least four feet long. Another stab failed to disable the octopus, although one of its eyes was destroyed, and yet this did not avert its evident determination to reach its enemy.

The blade of the knife was broken, and the fisherman had recourse to the butt. Half beaten to pulp, the octopus did not relax its fell purpose. The end of the struggle was that the monster found shelter in a crevice in the rocks, and from its remaining eye there still glared the fire of baffled hate.

The participator in this conflict was familiar with Jules Verne, and is now able to realise the malevolence of the cuttle fish, to which the octopus is a near relation.

He is also convinced that should a child while bathing encounter an octopus of any considerable size, the struggle for life would be a very unequal one.
 
Boy I'm glad we've moved on from the terrifying child eating octopus at Portobello, we've got them so much better trained now, they only eat really obnoxious brats that we tell them they can eat :sagrin: :cephdevil: !!!!!!!

Good find Denise, don't know how I missed that one! .........yes I do forgot to get the paper yesterday! :biggrin2:
 

Shop Amazon

Shop Amazon
Shop Amazon; support TONMO!
Shop Amazon
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Back
Top