16.51, Wednesday 20 Jun 2001

The Duck-Billed Platypus makes noise ranging from "a growl of a puppy to the noise of a broody hen". But nowhere on the www can I find a sound file of this. I have asked here before for help. I have asked on mailing lists. I have spent literally hours on search engines, as have friends, and friends of friends. I'm getting desperate, so here's my plea:

Please hunt for me. Look. Go to the zoo and record one if you can. Spread this message. Do you have a weblog? Copy and paste this message onto yours, asking your readers to help. Are you on a mailing list? Send this request to all your friends. Do you have a newspaper column? Use your exposure to repeat this request. Ask friends of friends. Ask zoologists. Place adverts in the newspaper. Anything, it doesn't matter. (Don't forget, when doing this, to mention it's me wanting the sound, otherwise how will people know who to send it to?) But please help me to find the sound of a platypus. This is terribly, terribly important.