The animal kingdom is known for having a few tricksters up its sleeve. Under intense fear, an __1__ can play dead very convincingly! Monkeys have been known to steal items, food, and even pickpocket. Birds like ravens and __2__ have mimicked human voices so accurately that police have been called when neighbors thought they heard a person scream for help. One animal that rarely gets noticed for their impressive abilities is the octopus.

These __3__-limbed sea dwellers are known for their intelligence, having the highest brain-to-body mass ratio of all invertebrates. Most octopus dwell along the seabed and among __4__ reefs. They have to routinely evade predators such as __5__, which is made easier with their smarts and incredible flexibility. Their small mouth beaks are the only part of their bodies that are not ___6___, meaning even large octopuses are capable of fitting through ___7___ only a couple of inches wide. 

The National Aquarium of __8__ discovered firsthand just how smart and slippery their resident octopus could be. Upon opening one day, the aquarium workers made the startling discovery that a tank which originally housed two octopuses now only contained one. Did the rogue octopus simply get up and let himself out? Essentially, he did!

After some investigation, a ___9___ was discovered from the octopus tank to an open hole for a drain. The missing octopus, Inky, had squeezed his way out of his enclosure, slithered a few feet across a dry floor, and again contorted his __10__-sized body through a tiny drain hole. All of the drains in the aquarium were checked for signs of a stowaway Inky, but he was long gone. The drain he took had a straight shot to an opening that would drop him into the ___11___. 

It seems Inky had not only successfully escaped, but managed to take the best escape route possible to lead him back to his original home. While the story of a jailbreaking octopus was a shock to the public, __12__ were not surprised. Octopuses have been studied thoroughly by marine biologists due to their amazing intelligence. They have been recorded as being successful at maneuvering through mazes, opening hatches in ___13___ to snatch a couple crabs for dinner, and even exhibiting behavior that appears to be playing.

When they become unstimulated and bored, octopuses have a reputation for breaking out of their enclosures. Sadly, many of these stories lead to a lost octopus with nowhere wet to go – and without __14__ an octopus cannot survive long. Inky’s big break for freedom could have ended very differently, but luckily he found the right path to the sea. 

Inky’s caretakers always knew that he was unusually ___15___ and smart, and would need to be kept entertained if he was going to stick around. They tried everything they could to provide him with play and stimulation, but in the end it wasn’t enough. His less curious tank mate, Blotchy, didn’t bother following in his footsteps. The aquarium, however, said they still planned to better secure the enclosure to prevent future escapes.