I am a lover of all animals. On our sheep farm, I’ve loved lambs, especially those I’ve helped raise as “bottle babies.” We’ve had intelligent sheep herding Border Collie dogs, as well as Great Pyrenees guardian dogs that have protected generations of sheep from coyote predators.
Lately, I’ve learned to carry on bird-song conversations, especially with Cardinals. As a singer, I’m able to hear the tones and variations of their songs and whistle the tunes back to them. And they reply!
But one wild animal I believe is the smartest animal on earth is the Octopus. I’ve come to admire this species through a TV Nature program. I don’t think there is any animal that can compare with how smart, how adaptable, and how “other-worldly” the Octopus is. After they’re born, their mothers die. They have innate abilities to learn and survive, due to evolutionary processes over thousands of centuries.
On the Australian Barrier Reef, an expert Octopus scientist and diver called Alex, studies an Octopus friend called “Scarlet.” Scarlet is called “The Queen of Camouflage,” changing the texture of her skin from smooth to spiky in a second. Scarlet matches the texture of where she is hiding by just looking at it. She can shift her shape to look like another animal. Scarlet’s eight arms can flush out small fish and crabs from coral. She even reaches out an arm to touch Alex, trusting her as a friend.
Hats off to this amazing creature!
I’m Connie Seraphine, and that is my Perspective.
