[drewprops]

Someone came back from their 4th of July weekend with a strange story. She and her boyfriend spent a week or so at a primitive campground in a state park (have to ask her the name again). While he was out hiking around near the water he saw an animal sitting on the shore, it was about 18 inches long. When it saw him it poked its head underwater, as if by hiding its head it couldn't be seen. He went over and stroked its fur, which was slippery/slick. He said that it had a tail like a beaver but that it had a duck-like bill.

I *know* that the platypus is indigenous to Australia and Tasmania, but is there some remote chance that some were released to the wild in North Carolina at some point?? Doing some searching I see that there are fossil records of other platypii in North America but can't imagine that a species would/could have gone unknown into the 21st century.

Besides the "what was he smoking?" angle what do you folks think?

[alcimedes]

If he walked up and pet the thing, it was probably all in his head.

I think most wild animals (whether the know to fear people or not) don't let something walk right up to them to pet them, but I could be wrong. They find species with surprising regularity that they thought were dead/extinct, so I guess anything possible.

[thegelding]

no camera phone?

without evidence, and with the story of walking up and petting it like a lapdog, i call shenanagans

g

[staph]

Not to mention the fact that platypi have poisonous spurs which they'll use if they feel really threatened.

It does remind me of that episode of the Simpsons, where the koala hangs onto the helicopter fuselage at the end. And that thing about melaleuca eating the Florida everglades.

[thegelding]

i think only males have poisonous spurs...so this could have been a female

will look up and see if i am passing falsehoods

the amazing thing (of so many) about this creature is that, unlike all mammals that have an 2 sex chromosomes (an X and Y or an XX), they have 10...some resembling bird sex chromosomes (which could explain why they lay eggs, but suckle their young...

god does have a sense of humor after all

g

[Luca]

Even if it was a platypus, the most likely explanation is that it was someone's escaped pet.

[staph]

From my linked page:

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.

More strangely, the females don't have nipples — they just secrete milk through two little pads.

[staph]

Originally Posted by Luca Even if it was a platypus, the most likely explanation is that it was someone's escaped pet.

You'd hope not… I'm pretty sure it's illegal for private citizens to export them from Australia, and they don't breed at all well in captivity.

I suppose it could have escaped from a zoo.

Could be worse though. They could have said they'd seen a thylacine.

[thegelding]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monotreme

freaky stuff

that being said, i do so wish i had a cloaca

g

[thegelding]

ps...doubtful anybody has one as a pet...hard to raise, harder to bred...nocturnal and usually in a burrow during the day

probably a mutant beaver cub

g

[murbot]

Are you sure she wasn't totally messed up on shrooms, and that's just the drug-warped memory she has of going down on her boyfriend?

[thegelding]

i was going to follow murbot's post with something about how she was petting and petting it until it spit at her and then went to sleep...but i changed my mind

g

[drewprops]

Update....

He mistook a Hellbender salamander for a platypus duck....... errmmmmm......

[BuonRotto]

So...... she was on 'shrooms.

[Kickaha]

Originally Posted by drewprops Update.... He mistook a Hellbender salamander for a platypus duck....... errmmmmm......

What the F*CK? How stupid is this person???

Jesus.

[billybobsky]

Originally Posted by drewprops Update.... He mistook a Hellbender salamander for a platypus duck....... errmmmmm......

Cough.

[naren]

Wow, up to 29 inches long. That's a damn big salamander. I wish we got some of that action up here!

[Meltedbutter421]

I was just in Costa Rica on vacation (i landed 2 hours ago) and there was a Duck Billed Bird and it was really cool... it had a cool head like a Platypus

[drewprops]

that's..... daffy.

[crazychester]

I thought I saw a flying duckbilled salamander but it was just a lousy platypus.

I think you made this whole thing up, drewprops, or else somebody's been seriously pulling your leg.

Originally Posted by drewprops He went over and stroked its fur, which was slippery/slick.

So this guy, he's visually challenged is he? Or to use the technical term, blind as a bat. Is that it? Maybe he was bushwalking on a moonless night without a torch. But then how did he see the salaplatymanderpus in the first place?

And I guess he's also got some sort of sensory nerve or neurological disorder that prevents him from being able to tell the difference between wet fur and lizard skin, huh?

Should this guy really be out bushwalking on his own? I mean what if he mistook a 150 foot cliff for a sweeping marble staircase or something like that? Somebody should at least get the poor chap a guide dog. Then again, maybe not.....

"This guy was giving his dog a bath when, what he thinks was a giant wagtail salamander.........."