Platypus:

Today Ivor stayed home because it is too hot outside and there weren't enough creeks in the office for him to dive into in search of food. Amy sent this email to us telling us what animal Ivor is:

Ivor is a platypus today. His broad, flat, coarse, bristly tail acts as a powerful rudder when he swims and dives for food. He uses his webbed fore-paw to steer in the water, and to walk or burrow while on land.

Unfortunately, for Karla, the spur on the inner side of each hind limb holds poison. But no need to worry. As a platypus, Ivor will spend about 13 hours today foraging for food, using his electro-sensitive bill to locate and probe for worms, insects, crustaceans, molluscs and small vertebrates such as tadpoles. He’ll dive for between 20-40 seconds during foraging, resting on the surface for only 10 seconds between dives. He’ll perform about 80 dives per hour. A great Olympiad! Once he catches it, he will carry his prey in his cheek-pouches and use his small, horny pads to crush them.

Big surprise, Ivor can consume up to half his own body weight a day. Glad Karla doesn’t have to feed him, but seems like she may have to clean up a bit if with all that crushing. As for the poison risk, Jonathan will have to deal with that when he comes home.