10/02/11 PLATYPUS By Kristina

10/02/11 Features I am the size of a pet cat and can grow from 41 to 56 cm long. I have short but thick dark brown waterproof fur on my body but not on my feet or bill. I also have webbed feet and a broad flat tail. My feet and bill are blue-gray in colour. My mom has a tiny slot on her belly to feed me and my brother or me and my sister and my dad has a spur in his ankle to squirt out venom.

10/02/11 Habitat I swim in fresh water and live in a burrow dug in a bank of a river or stream. My burrow can be as long as 26 meters and I do not migrate. Go to Eastern Australia or Island of Tasmania and you will find me but don't go to Northern Australia,I am extinct from there!

10/02/11 Diet I am called a bottom feeder which means I'll catch my food,store it in my cheek pouches,swim up to the surface then eat it. I am a carnivore so I eat crayfish,small snails,worms and insect larva.

10/02/11 How my young are born When I was born my mom laid 1 or 2 eggs but I am a kind of mammal called a monotreme. My egg was one cm long. My gestation period is 28 days plus 10 days for egg incubation

10/02/11 How I Care For My Young I would stay in my mom's burrow for four months and drink on my mom's milk, which oozes from pouches. When I was born I was blind, helpless and furless. My eyes opened at 11 weeks. I was also the size of a lima bean. At four months, my mom took me into the water.

10/02/11 Who are my enemies I have four enemies goannas,snakes,water rats and foxes. How I protect myself is by my blocking off my nesting burrow to protect me and my siblings. My dad uses venom from the spur in his ankle and my mom and dad can dive under water for 11 minutes to avoid the enemies.

10/02/11 Am I Endangered It's sad but,it's true. I am endangered. One of the biggest reasons are the humans. People are polluting my water with soap and detergent. I'm also accidentally caught in shrimp nets. People are also destroying my habitat by building too close and building grates in between ponds and damming that makes it hard to swim.

10/02/11 credits swimming platypus look at me love me this is cold what are you doing here platypuses tast good did you say platypus