The Australian short nosed ECHIDNA
- or spiny ant eater
is like the PLATYPUS - its an egg laying mammal.
When threatened these creatures
roll themselves up into a ball
with their sharp spines sticking out.
They are a stout animal with very short legs and
a long tongue.
The tongue is sticky and used to catch termites
and ants.
The female echidna lay only one
leathery egg about the size
of a small grape. The baby echidna is carried in
her pouch for
about 50 days where its fed on milk excreted by
its mother.
When the spines start to grow, the
baby echidna is placed
in a burrow, usually near a termite nest. The
mother
echidna will return about every 5 days to suckle
her young.
Lactation ceases after about 7
months and the baby
is independent after a year.
Like most Australian animals the
echidna is nocturnal
and rarely seen during the day.
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