Whilst away I came across this lovely little Echidna – Tachyglossus aculeatus – wandering around near a quiet road and just had to stop and say hello.
Short beaked Echidnas – or spiny anteaters – are rather odd little creatures, they are a mammal that lays eggs and as you can see have long claws for burrowing and those amazing spines. If feeling threatened the Echidna buries itself down into the dirt and raises its spines – I must say a very effective deterrent to predators. The only hope they have is to get the Echidna turned over to attack it from underneath, away from those wicked looking spines.
I must say he/she was not at all disturbed by my presence and photo taking and continued to use its very long snout and tongue to seek out ants or termites. Their tongues are extremely long to seek out those tiny ants in small spaces.
Another particularly gorgeous thing about the Echidna are its eyes with those long lashes.
This little fellow shuffled around for a while and then just turned his tail to me and walked away.
Wildflowerings - Art Studio Diary 
He’s such a little sweetie! 🙂
Thanks for sharing the photos.
Your welcome!
Rescued one a while back and put it in the bath for safety, thinking it would not get out, but it did and dug up half the slate floor. Brought the bathroom reno forward a tad.
Hi Greer – gee didn’t realise they could be that destructive!! Must have been desperate to get out! Good to see you are still doing rescues – even if not so healthy for your house!
Lyn