Platypuses

Platypuses are mammals.

They live along the banks of rivers and streams. They spend a lot of time in the water.

They have a thick coat of slightly oily fur which keeps them warm if the water is really cold.

Their strong webbed feet pull them through the water when they areswimming. Their tails are used for steering.

Their bill is soft and rubbery and has 2 holes near the end. They are nostrils. They must come up to the surface to breathe.

They drown if they get caught in underwater fishing nets or crayfish traps.

Their bill is very sensitive. The platypus uses it to feel for food on the riverbed. It likes to eat worms, shrimps and small crayfish.

When the female is going to have her baby she goes to the long winding burrow she made in the bank.

The platypus is a very special mammal because it lays eggs. Mammals that lay eggs are called monotremes.

Females lay up to 3 eggs. When they hatch, the babies lick milk from a patch on their mother's stomach.

Six months later they'll have learnt to look after themselves and they'll have to find their own quiet bit of riverbed.