Wildlife Watch

The Elusive Platypus

Each night in the Cradle Mountain area we venture out to see the wildlife. The first night we depart when it’s already dark so we take our flashlight and walk to the road. We see only one wallaby who stares at us for a few minutes before bounding off into the night. We flash the light around but no resident wombats appear so we retire to our room to read our books. The second night we head out in the car at dusk and drive to the Cradle Mountain Lodge about five minutes from our cabin. Our aim is to follow Pencil Pine Creek where park literature indicated that we might see a platypus. However before setting off, we pause in close proximity to the lodge where some people are looking intently at a pond that sports a fly fishing sign and a warning to throw back any fish that are caught. Proceeding along a narrow path, we see a telltale circle of bubbles and within few seconds a small creature surfaces briefly and then disappears. We watch for about ten minutes, and follow its progress around to the far side of the pond.  We are sure we are seeing the elusive creature that a majority of Australians have never seen in the wild. When we went to Wild World in Sydney in 2010 where all creatures were in captivity, we could not see the elusive platypus even though it was supposed to be there. He must have been hiding in his burrow.

So this trip determined in our efforts, we made a pilgrimage enroute to Launceston to Beauty Point in the Tamar Valley to visit Platypus House, similar to a platypus zoo, only to find that it had closed a half hour earlier. We thought perhaps we could leave time after our Cradle Mountain sojourn to return for the guided visit. In Deloraine at the salmon farm the legendary creatures were guaranteed to be in residence but not appearing at lunchtime.  The owner told us to look in the creeks at Cradle Mountain National Park, and we might be lucky. The lady at the tourist information office in that town advised us to go have a drink at the pub in nearby Mole Creek, but the weather wasn’t really amenable so we kept driving.  And here we just pull up to the lodge and find platypus in the pond. I hope you realize what an unlikely scenario this is – these are elusive dawn/dusk creatures, what is this one doing bobbing in the pond next to the car park? Duncan suggests we approach a small beach for a better look and doesn’t the creature oblige by coming so near that we can see his entire smallish body (about 15 inches long). It’s confirmed, this IS a platypus, the genuine article. Now this is a red letter day.  Won’t my friend Keila who has lived in Australia for years and never seen one, be jealous? Woo hoo! In addition to the platypus we see a wallaby, a wombat and a pademelon.

Potaroo

The next night we return at the same time having assured the Aussie owner of our cabins, who has never seen a platypus that it is a sure bet. Just go to the pond at 7 p.m.  But no platypus, not a bubble not a bobble, nothing. Now will you believe how lucky we were? We did see a Potaroo though, now that’s a first too.








Click Below to See Map:
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