The platy enclosure is mostly closed off to the public, apart from a large feeding area set up to resemble a creek bed. A couple of times a day they flood the feeding area with prawns/shrimp so the little guy comes out and does some very agile eatin’ acrobatics around the display.

I’ve lived in Australia all my 36 years and only seen platypus on one other occasion (from a decent distance on a paid tour of a wild habitat), so even we locals think it’s a treat to see the shy little guys.

My gf is originally from California, so we took her folks there when they came out for a visit. The locals at the park were actually going more nuts to see the platy than our visitors… a couple of local grunge chicks were walking away as we were going back for a second look “HAVE YOU SEEN THE PLATY?”… “PLATYPUS ROCKS!!!”

On your side-subject of whether overt observation leads to behavioural change, I’m afraid it’s pretty well accepted in psych literature that it does… which is a massive can of worms for a fellow blogger to open. Since we know that our literary actions are being observed, the question becomes how much of our actual selves are ever put out there in our musings?

To prove the point, I’d better completely taint that previously sincere response to your post with a shameless plug to say… perhaps you should maybe think about earning some Aussie pocket money from Aussie Surveys That Pay before you take the trip out here ;-D

Best of luck on the tour plans… maybe try not to come in the heat of our incredibly humid summer, from my experience Americans can be a little sensitive to it, spending days just sweating and wishing they could go back across the Pacific! ;-}

Have Fun!