This is basically just my research on the platypus, which is one of my favorite animals. This also has a short story that I wrote myself.
The platypus is a mammal that belongs to the monotreme family. That means that it is a mammal that lays eggs. It lives in southern Australia and Tasmania, where it swims around in the rivers of the area to find food These creatures eat crayfish, fish, frogs, tadpoles, and other small creatures. While underwater, platypuses close their nose and eyes. Instead of using his eyes to find prey, he uses a sixth sense that we don;t have: an electroreceptor, which he uses to get a 3-dimensional perspective of the world around them. During the breeding season, the male platypuses fight with a poison spur on the ankles of his back legs. This spur has enough poison to kill a dog, and yet, he never uses it in self-defense, and only during the breeding season. When the male and female finally pair together, the female mates with the male, and then digs a 6-foot burrow to lay her 2 grape-sized eggs in. When they hatch, they have no fur, and they are blind. The mother platypus has no nipples, so when the baby taps a certain place to ask for milk, she sweats the milk out. When the first specimen to be seen was sent to England in 1798, naturalist George Shaw tried to unpick the strings from the platypus with scissors, as he thought it was sewn together. The electroreceptors weren't discovered until the 18th century, and even now, this animal is one of the weirdest.
Remember, when you think of weird animals, try to think of this spectacular creature.
******** Platypus's Big Adventure
When Platypus woke up, she knew this was going to be a good day. She woke up just before her 3 young babies. Their names were Perry, Panama, and Paul. When they woke up, she told them that she was going on a hike. But what she didn’t know that this was going to be a hike that she would never forget. She was going to start her hike with a small swim across the river. Unfortunately, the river was at a record high that year, and the current was really strong. She swam just fine until she got to about the middle of the river. It was at that point that the current took her in the direction the flowing water was going: north. She tried to swim towards the shore, but she was not able to do so before she realized she was heading straight towards a waterfall. She started paddling even harder, but she could not go the opposite direction of the current. Her life started flashing before her eyes, and as she went over the waterfall, the last moment flashed… as she felt something grab her hand. She looked up, and saw a Tasmanian devil looking down at her. She then yelled for the devil not to eat her, and he replied that he was saving her, not having her for lunch. He pulled her up, and told her that his name was Taz. He also told him some of his history, and then she remembered something She had met this guy before. She met him back when she was just a teenager. She didn’t bother to mention that part, though. She talked to him a little longer before he said he had to get back home. She waved him goodbye, and decided to go back to her own den, as she had probably had enough craziness for the day. Now she just had to figure out how to get across. Luckily, she found some rocks that lead a trail back to the other side of the river. She skipped across, and started walking home. When she got home, she sat down, and Perry asked what had happened. She said that she would rather not talk about it right now, and that she needed to go to sleep. Time had apparently passed faster than she had thought, as it was already nighttime. She said goodnight to her babies and nodded off to sleep, having one of the best dreams she had ever had.
This is my first publication, and I hope this is well received. Enjoy, and see you next time.
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