It is equipped with sensors that can detect movement in water. Water reaches the sensitive nerve endings through tiny pores in the snout's hairless leathery skin, which is moist and soft. A lesser known platypus curiosity is located on the inside of each hind leg. It is a hard spur that disappears on females as they mature. But adult males retain their spurs, which are connected to venom glands.
Platypus venom is reportedly strong enough to kill a dog and causes intense pain in humans.
Platypuses swim mainly with their forefeet. Food is probably located by touch and is stored in cheek pouches, as some rodents do. But platypuses aren't plant eaters. Rather, they prey on crayfish, shrimp, snails, larvae of water insects, worms, tadpoles, and small fish. When a platypus has gathered sufficient prey, it surfaces to chew its meal.