I love getting to work these days and having my co-workers tell me the new and/or interesting things they learned over the weekend! Today James informed me that in the book he is reading the author referenced platypuses (yes, that is a word - I just spell checked it) producing venom. After doing some brief research I found out that his book was in fact true and that male platypuses actually do have a pair of spurs on their hind limbs that produce venom! Giddy up! These creepy little spurs spit out the venom and it is incredibly painful but apparently the poisonous cocktail isn't usually lethal to most animals (phew)! Females are actually born with the spurs too but they fall off within the first year and never produce venom. Seems slightly comparable to a man's nipples. Slightly. Think about it. Random wikipedia fact: The spur is attached to a small bone which allows articulation; the spur can move at a right angle to the limb allowing a greater range of attack than a fixed spur would allow.
- Lizzie
