Have you ever seen an octopus come out of the water onto land?

Only this type.

http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/

Totally common. They often leave the water to snatch crabs and the like.

They’re exceptionally smart. I would not be surprised if one did something like that.

They have reputations in aquariums for breaking out of their cages and sneaking in to neighbors’ to eat them.

I’ve never seen that! Wow, that must have been surprising. Those are horrible looking!!!

They are not horrible! They’re in-fucking-credible! Cephalopods are some of the most fascinating and gorgeous animals on this planet.

@delirium: ^Word.

I once found a small octopus in a tidepool. It seemed to be getting warm in the tidepool from the sun so we put a shell partially over the octopus to shade it.

Wow! Really cool story!

That is so amazing. :o
Next time, take me with you when you go to feed ducks.

Cool! I’ve seen video of research animals stealthily leaving their own tanks after hours, when the researchers are gone for the day. They climb into nearby tanks, eat the crabs there, and then return to their own tanks before they are discovered. The researchers set up cameras because they couldn’t figure out what was happening to all of the crabs.

no i haven’t. i do not have the privilege of living near the ocean unfortunately

It’s pretty common actually. Anyone who has ever kept them will tell you, they’re hard to keep contained; they love to get out of their tanks. They’re smart and mischievous.