Mallangong. Are they not queer-sounding names?

But the little duckbill is a queer animal, too. Its mouth looks like a
duck's bill. Some people name it the Water Mole, because its fur looks
like the mole's coat, and because it is fond of the water.

When dogs first see Master Duckbill, they watch him waddle along in his
funny, awkward way and bark at him, but they will not touch him. When
cats first see this queer creature, they scamper quickly out of sight.

Master Duckbill is a skillful burrower and makes long tunnels in the
earth with his strong claws. His round body is thickly covered, first,
with woolly fur and then with long hairs. A leathery hanging protects
his round eyes from the earth in which he burrows.

Being fond of the water, he always builds near a stream--usually by some
quiet pond or the still, wide part of a river. He makes two doorways.
One he reaches by land; the other, by diving into the water. The land
door is always carefully hidden under weeds or bending plants, so that
no stranger can find it. Yet, often you can see the footprints of this
little worker in the wet soil.

To look at Master Duckbill, you would not think he is so active: and he
is so strong that you could not hold him in your hands. He is a
wonderful climber; so that, if you had him in your house, you would soon
see him running up your bookshelves or clambering along some other piece
of furniture. He would put his back against the wall, his feet against
the bookcase, and thus he would travel upward to the top. Sometimes boys
try to climb up a barn that way.