A game of fetch gone wrong: What creature stole this dog's favorite toy?
Onrus, South Africa – This look speaks volumes!
Lucy the dog was completely perplexed when a mysterious creature surfaced from the water while she was playing on a beach near her home in early March.
Riette Creighton, the dog's owner, was also caught off-guard when the sea animal stole her ball!
Creighton quickly grabbed her camera and filmed the event.
"He's got the ball!" Lucy's family exclaimed. "I think he's trying to eat it!"
The eight-armed swimmer then wrapped his tentacles around the yellow toy and disappeared into the depths of the sea.
As the tide went out, Lucy's family waited, but the ball never resurfaced.
Watching the video again, the group has now agreed that it was an octopus that carried out the curious theft!
"I think my reaction was the same as Lucy’s! I’ve never experienced anything like it. " The South African dog owner told The Dodo.
"This was just next level!"
The ball was gone
It became clear that Lucy would not be the only critter enjoying the tennis ball from now on.
"No luck, it was gone!" Creighton said.
She later joked that the octopus was probably somewhere in the ocean "playing fetch with Nemo and Dory," like in the famed Pixar movie.
Or perhaps it was creating an under-the-sea toy collection of its own.
Despite losing her plaything, the pup didn't stay sad for long, Lucy's owner said.
"She was back in the water the next day with a brand-new ball" and was as happy as a clam.
Or an octopus!
Cover photo: Facebook/Screenshots/riette.norval.5