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Touchy-Feely Octopus Grabs Camera

A man tried to take photos of an octopus when the cheeky animal grabbed the camera, and took a few of him.
Digital media producer Benjamin Savard tried to get some close-up photos of an octopus, but the octopus grabbed the camera and snapped his own photos.
Digital media producer Benjamin Savard tried to get some close-up photos of an octopus, but the octopus grabbed the camera and snapped his own photos.Benjamin Savard / Middlebury College

A tentacles-on octopus grabbed a camera a researcher was using to capture its movements and turned it on the man himself.

Digital media producer Ben Savard was working on a short video about science at Middlebury College in Vermont and decided to photograph the octopuses in the neuroscience department. He got permission to film the animals which are being used in some student research, Savard told NBC News.

He wrapped a GoPro camera in a waterproof case, set it to take a rapid number of photos per second and with the help of a neuroscience student placed the camera in the tank.

“We did this a few times with different octopuses and one of the more cheeky cephalopods grabbed the camera and turned it around on me for a quick couple of pictures,” Savard told NBC News.

He posted two of the photos on Reddit Tuesday morning, and they quickly reached the front page. Some Reddit users accused Savard of staging the photos, so he turned the entire image sequence into a gif and posted it Wednesday.

Check out the photos below, they'll suck you in...:

Benjamin Savard / Middlebury College
Benjamin Savard / Middlebury College
Benjamin Savard / Middlebury College
Benjamin Savard / Middlebury College
Benjamin Savard / Middlebury College
Benjamin Savard / Middlebury College
Benjamin Savard / Middlebury College
Benjamin Savard / Middlebury College
Digital media producer Benjamin Savard tried to get some close-up photos of an octopus, but the octopus grabbed the camera and snapped his own photos.
Digital media producer Benjamin Savard tried to get some close-up photos of an octopus, but the octopus grabbed the camera and snapped his own photos.Benjamin Savard / Middlebury College
Benjamin Savard / Middlebury College