Platypus Burrows
Courtesy of:
The Australian Platypus Conservancy
Platypus are air-breathing mammals, and by
choice spend up to 17 hours a day resting out of the water in an underground
burrow. However, they feed only in the water and are rarely observed on land for
more than a few minutes at a time. Many of the platypus found in unusual
locations, such as suburban gardens, appear to be young animals that are
orphaned or have dispersed from their mother's home range in order to claim
their own territory.
What do platypus burrows look like?
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Platypus use two types of burrows: "nesting
burrows" (which provide shelter for a mother and up to three offspring) and
"camping burrows" (all other burrows). In both cases, the burrow
chambers are just big enough to accommodate their occupants - for example, a
nesting chamber containing two young platypus (estimated to be a month old)
along Lockyer Creek in Queensland was 25 centimetres wide x 46 cm long x 20 cm
high, while a camping chamber known to be used by a sub adult male along Badger
Creek in Victoria was 20 cm wide x 30 cm long x 14 cm high.
The tunnel leading to a camping burrow chamber is usually
quite short (1-4 metres long). Camping burrow entrances are usually difficult to
spot, being located underwater or just at the water's surface and often hidden
by overhanging vegetation or an undercut bank.
Where are platypus burrows found?
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Platypus select burrow sites partly on the basis of bank
height, with nearly all burrows found in banks rising one metre or more above
the water.
As well, platypus prefer to place their burrows along
moderately undercut banks where substantial vegetation overhangs the water. Such
banks are normally well consolidated by plant roots, so that undercutting is
confined to the part of the bank extending just above (as well as below) the
water surface. The amount of cover provided along the bank top by shrubs and
low-growing plants has also been found to be significantly greater than expected
at platypus burrows located along the Yarra River near Melbourne. Besides
helping to protect platypus burrow entrances from predators, this combination of
habitat characteristics reduces the likelihood that burrows are damaged by
erosion.
How many burrows does a platypus use?
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An adult platypus will normally occupy several different
camping burrows (up to about a dozen) within a period of a few weeks. By having
numerous burrows scattered across the entire length of its home range, a
platypus is always reasonably close to a safe refuge. As well, using different
burrows on different days may reduce the proliferation of parasites (such as the
platypus tick, Ixodes ornithorhynchi) at any one location. Two grown platypus
will sometimes share a burrow at the same time, though males and females both
tend to be solitary in their habits.
Do platypus
rest in
places other than burrows?
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Radio-tagged platypus have occasionally been found sleeping
inside a hollow log at the edge of the water or within a pile of woody branches
accumulated in the stream channel.
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