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Zart Extra Term 3 2009

Indigenous Art

Haileybury College, Brighton

How the platypus came to live in the water...

The platypus was once a land-dwelling animal. He used to bask in the sun like a lizard and spend his days finding sand holes to lie in. Then the big drought started. The days became longer and the sun got hotter and hotter. The platypus found his skin starting to dry out and crack. His beautiful green skin turned dry and yellow. All the platypuses got together and had an emergency meeting. They decided they had to change their habitat. They moved into the cool waters of the rivers and billabongs. However, their little legs got very tired from paddling all day. Hence they started to build secret underground tunnels and hideouts where they could rest and keep cool. Now the platypus always lives in the water.
Noah

Why the platypus lives underwater...

In years gone by, there were many more platypuses in Australia than there are today. The platypus used to love lying in the warm morning sun, then sheltering from the heat of the day, by swimming in the cool billabong and river. Unfortunately as the platypuses dozed in the sand, crocodiles would creep up and select the fattest to eat for lunch. Numbers dwindled until the chief platypus came up with a wonderful idea. Platypus would move from the land to the river, and create under-water homes where they would be safe from crocodiles. They now rarely come out of the water, and when they do they check the tracks on the ground to see if crocodiles are nearby.
Matthew

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