Platypus Diary

Pebbles the platypus lives in Ten Mile Creek in rural south-east Queensland near the NSW border. Every month she writes about her life in her burrow, her creek and how she copes with the changing seasons and conditions.

What happened in January? Find out more about the adventures of Pebbles the Platypus...

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December

You just never know what the weather will do around here now. Last year was so dry that I didn’t even bother to think about laying eggs. There was barely enough food around in the drought to feed me, let alone raise baby platypuses. That’s why we platypuses don’t like it when humans build dams on rivers – it’s just like having a permanent drought downstream of the dam.

But this year the monsoon season is well and truly on. The rain started late one night and just kept falling like a bucket tipping for 3 days. My burrow is well above the flood level but life got difficult for other local families. The girl platypus round the corner and her baby ended up living in a rabbit burrow and eating in the fields when the river rose into her home.

Eating was difficult for all of us for a while. The floods scoured out the best feeding areas and it’s always difficult to feed in fast flowing water. I just stayed around my home range and waited for the water levels to drop. The platypus males and girl platypuses who don’t have babies to look after can find extra food when the water drops. But I’m going to have to work hard to get enough to eat once the babies leave home. I must put on a bit of weight over the summer or I’ll never survive when winter comes.