(no subject)

[d_aulnoy]

I now know what I want for my birthday.

A pet platypus.

All of you, start planning the means by which you will smuggle one into the nation by February 21st.

That will be all.

Comments

[aynjel.livejournal.com]

They're so cute! And so.... unassuming. I mean, when I first thought platypus I expected somtehing the size of a beaver, or an otter.

I <3 monotremes. *teehee*

[d-aulnoy.livejournal.com]

Exactly! I saw something on Neil Gaiman's journal about platypi, and googled the images for kicks, and they're like the bastard love-children of ferrts and goslings (both of which I love). Oh, platypus ... I love you so.

cute but deadly! (okay, not deadly, really -- but unpleasant)

[iconoclam.livejournal.com]

Yes, but be careful. In the course of platypus googling, I came across the following disturbing information:

The platypus is the only Australian mammal known to be venomous. Adult males have a pointed spur (about 15 millimetres long) located just above the heel of each hind leg, which can be used to inject poison produced by a gland in the thigh (the crural gland). Venom is only secreted by mature males, with production peaking during the platypus breeding season in late winter and spring. It is therefore presumed that males mainly use their spurs when competing for mates or breeding territories.

If provoked, a male platypus can use his spurs as a defensive weapon. In the days when platypus were shot for their fur, dogs were sometimes killed after being sent to retrieve a wounded male from the water. These days, people mainly get spurred when they handle a platypus which has become hooked inadvertently on a fishing line.

Platypus venom is not considered to be life-threatening to a healthy human. However, spurring is painful - in part, because platypus spurs are sharp and can be driven in with great force. As well, platypus poison triggers severe pain in the affected limb and can result in quite spectacular localised swelling.

Re: cute but deadly! (okay, not deadly, really -- but unpleasant)

[d-aulnoy.livejournal.com]

Okay, slight edit: for my birthday I want a pet FEMALE platypus. V. important.


I will call her ... Jake.

Just because.