What Am I?

I am giving you something new to Nature Center Magazine. It is a fun little quiz. I will give a few clues to something you will find in nature. You can guess what the object is. I tried to decide the best way to let you know if your guess is right and I decided to add it to the end of next week's post. It is a long time to wait but unless you can come up with a brilliant way to present it that is the way it will be. Guess away and good luck. No prizes, just fun.


01. I have a bill and webbed feet.

02. I have horny spurs inside my hind leg ankles.

03. I live near fresh water.

04. If I am a male my horny spurs are venomous.

05. I have a wooly coat.

06. If I am a female I lay from 2 to 4 soft, leathery eggs at a time.

07. After two weeks the young hatched from the eggs drink milk provided by the mother.

08. I have a broad flat tail.

09. I am a bottom feeder, eating insects, larvae, shellfish, and worms.

10. In 1798 my pelt and a sketch of me was sent to Great Britain. Everyone concluded that I must be a hoax.

WHAT AM I?