One of my best holidays was the time I saw an Australian platypus, a
bizarre semi-aquatic mammal that lays eggs and uses echo-location to
find its prey, which it digs from the river bed. It is an egg-laying,
duck-billed, beaver-tailed, otter-footed mammal with water proof fur.
And its elusive behaviour means most people never see it outside a zoo
or sanctuary
I hoped to see the shy and mainly nocturnal animal in
its natural habitat, swimming in the Broken River in the Eungella
National Park, Central Queensland, Australia.
So here we were
before dusk, standing in the viewing area on the bridge over the Broken
River. We’d taken up our positions an hour earlier, waiting patiently,
and scanning the river for signs of activity.
“Watch for
bubbles on the surface of the water,” the Ranger told us. “The platypus
dives to the bottom for food, and strains it through his bill. Then he
comes to the surface to eat it. He’s only on top of the water for a
few seconds, and then he dives down again searching for more, so you
have to watch carefully. And it won’t happen until the sunlight is
off the water.”
Accordingly we scanned the shady areas of water
carefully. We had a few false alarms as we saw tortoises swimming below
us, and insects skimming the surface often gave the appearance of
bubbles.
Peter trained his binoculars up-river and suddenly there
it was, many meters upstream. Creating wide ripples as it dived, the
platypus was clearly visible. We watched its progress as it dived and
swam towards us. Finally it passed directly below us, under the bridge.
It was larger than we expected at about two feet in length, and we saw
quite clearly its distinctive bill, the tail, and the dark brown fur.
We hurried to the other side of the bridge, hoping for another glimpse,
but it had disappeared.
It was truly a unique event to see this shy, elusive creature in its natural environment.
Kate Loveday
http://www.kateloveday.com
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