National Geographic Kids USA - September 2017

OCTOPUS ESCAPES!

Napier, New Zealand
Now you see him ... now you don’t! One octopus pulled the
ultimate disappearing act by slipping out of his tank while
nobody was looking.
After staff at the National Aquarium of New Zealand
left for the evening, Inky the Pacific octopus somehow
managed to slip out of his enclosure. Experts think the
cephalopod used his arms to pry himself out of his tank
and onto the floor where he squeezed his soccer-ball-size
body through a six-inch drain hole that leads to the ocean.
The following morning employees found Inky’s tank empty and
water spots on the ground—but no octopus.
Jessica Ries, an aquarist at Pennsylvania’s Pittsburgh Zoo and
PPG Aquarium, wasn’t surprised to learn of Inky’s adventure.
“Octopuses are good escape artists,” she says. “They can flatten
their bodies enough to squeeze through tiny openings.”
Inky’s former caretakers aren’t sure where he is these days, but
they did receive a postcard from a prankster in Florida with the
octopus’s name on it. Inky, out. —Sara Schwartz

, England

For most people, bubble baths

are relaxing. But for one tiny bat,

they’re lifesaving.

This male pipistrelle bat accidentally

flew into an insect trap, coating him-

self in the device’s glue. The sub-

stance covered so much of the bat’s

body that he could barely move. Luckily

passersby found the bat and called the

RSPCA West Hatch Wildlife Centre to

come to the animal’s aid.

Caretakers there immediately

decided to give the bat a bath at

their facility, using warm water and

soap to unstick the animal’s delicate

wings. More than one bath was

necessary to remove the glue.

While bats stuck in insect traps are

unusual, unsafe residue such as pesti-

cides often finds its way to bats’ bodies.

“Bats groom themselves in a manner

similar to cats,” bat conservationist

Mylea Bayless says. “So it’s important

for trained professionals to wash

them quickly if they’re covered in

something.”

Rescuers observed the pipistrelle

for a few weeks before releasing him

back into the wild. So no more bubble

baths—and hopefully no more insect

traps either! —Sara Schwartz

DOG

OURAY,

COLORADO

BAT

TAUNTON,

ENGLAND

OCTOPUS

NAPIER,

NEW ZEALAND

INKY HANGS

OUT IN HIS

ENCLOSURE,

PRE-ESCAPE.

BAT TAKES BUBBLE BATH

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC KIDS 13

A CARETAKER

GIVES FLUIDS

TO THE DEHY-

DRATED BAT.

TauntonE

next Fo

time let’s

use the

strawberry-

scented

stuff.

who, me?

i’m just

minding

my own

business.