– – Having taken Invertebrate Zoology , I for one have long thought that some invertebrates are smarter than what we usually give them credit for being, especially higher mollusks like cephalopods.–Well, Australian scientists have discovered an octopus in Indonesia that gathers coconut shells for shelter, behavior which researchers believe is the first evidence of tool use in an invertebrate animal!–Yeah yeah, I know about SpongeBob, but he doesn’t count…plus I find him annoying!
The scientific community has long debated about how to define tool use in the animal kingdom, being as how they don’t ordinarily have access to Black and Decker equipment. The Australian researchers defined a tool as an object carried or maintained for future use, and the veined octopus, Amphioctopus marginatus, selected halved coconuts from the ocean floor chucked there by humans, emptied them out, carried them under their bodies for up to 65 feet, and then assembled the two halves together to make a spherical hiding spot!–Isn’t that totally cool?!–One biologist described himself as gobsmacked, an expression I’d like to see re-integrated into the popular culture…
This is different from what hermit crabs do as the octopus is collecting the shells for later use, showing a capability for complex behavior.–Respect your local octopus!
– – Way back in 1967, a surreal series debuted on television called The Prisoner which was part spy series and part sci-fi drama. The British cult hit featured none 
– – The late conservation star Steve Irwin, 
– –Destination Truth recently had an episode with a secondary storyline line on the Arica Monster, a supposedly raptor-like creature inhabiting the Northern Chilean desert. On the desert road, people have reported seeing a dinosaur-like beast keeping pace with their cars, a neat trick. Described as large, standing on his hind legs, and having leathery skin, the beast is a fast runner with a distinctive three-toed print who attacks with razor-sharp teeth. 
– – MonsterQuest finally came up with their long-awaited episode on the Yeti on October 25th after previous ho-hum episodes on wild dogs and rats.- –
— Jazz musicians have often been called cats, and Nora is literally that. This gray tabby cat was adopted from a shelter in Cherry Hill, New Jersey and when a year old climbed up onto the bench in front of a Yamaha piano in the middle of the night and began to play! She has continued to tickle the ivories on a daily basis, at times playing duets with her owner and her owner’s students; she also plays alone, gravitating towards the D-E-F range on the keyboard, and including the black keys in her playing. 
FOXSYLVANIA 
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