Cute hedgehog video...

[Visitor]

Fair enough, though I never expected you to instantly like them from watching a video clip. But they are energy packed animals.
I am glad you see them as looking like loads of fun.

In Australia we do not have hedgehogs, but something that looks similar is the echidna.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xkm...echidna_travel

[Visitor]

Years ago I was reading a book by a famous American skeptic, JR, who wrote an A-Z on frauds. He wrote that the platypus was a fraud. It was at this point of the book I decided not to read further, not knowing what else JR was wrong about. The book saw my rubbish bin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7ptN...vLm Q9Vn5gXYK

[muileag]

Originally Posted by Visitor

Fair enough, though I never expected you to instantly like them from watching a video clip. But they are energy packed animals.
I am glad you see them as looking like loads of fun.

Yeah, if the ferret's human companion was around and was holding him/her, I would be able to touch it, but if the ferret came up to me, it would be uncomfortable. I had a gerbil as a child, and I felt the same ambivalence; I wanted to hold it, but it freaked me out. Then my older kids had guinea pigs and after 1/2 year they "lost interest" in cleaning the cages so I often did it. I think with the guinea pigs I was more worried about dropping them (because I had read they cannot "jump and land" without a high risk of breaking a bone) and I had to hold them out away from me because of their little rodent faces. The thing is, I love pictures and videos of cute little mice and squirrels. It's strange and complex, the workings of the mind

Years ago I was reading a book by a famous American skeptic, JR, who wrote an A-Z on frauds. He wrote that the platypus was a fraud. It was at this point of the book I decided not to read further, not knowing what else JR was wrong about. The book saw my rubbish bin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7ptN...vLm Q9Vn5gXYK

Now, I absolutely love platypi! Though, I'm not sure I could hold one.
I have a strange license plate (my estranged husband's doing -- he registered this car solo and it was the first time doing so in the US and he wasn't quite sure of the "tricks" for taking out the vowels).

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When we moved to the states we bought two cars: a little green Accent, which I said looked like a frog, and a blue Elantra (the car I drive), which I said looked like a sleek platypus. So, my husband thought it would be nice to register the car as "platypus" but there were too many characters to do so. Instead of writing it "pltypus" or something, I ended up with "platypu"...which gave my co-workers and students something to laugh about! He tried to fix it by affixing a "s"...but.....

[Visitor]

Very interesting and funny post.

Actually, I did not see the 'S' until you mentioned it. But I did realize that the plate ran out of letters.

One of my bicycle routes crosses a creek (stream), some 20 miles away from home, it has platypuses.
25 years ago, when I lived in thick bush land. (Upper Clarence River, NSW), I was following the beginnings of the river, but it went through a gorge (canyon) that made further advancement difficult. So I went over the gorge. About mid-way, I decided to go to the edge and have a look down at the small river. I counted about 30 platypuses playing down there. I have never seen more than two in one sitting before. It was awesome to watch them play.

[muileag]

Look what just popped up on my facebook feed...called puggles or platypups
I thought of you as soon as I saw them, Visitor. I bet their little footpads and bills are super soft!

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[Visitor]

OMG, they look so cute.
I never handled a platypus, I most probably never will. But they sure do look soft. It looks like they already have very short and fine fur growing from their skin. There is something very ancient about them, like many native Australian animals. (The Kookaburra is the prehistoric kingfisher).

Fantastic find muileag, very cute indeed.