Short Beaked Echidna

Habitat Common throughout most of Australia. They inhabit forests and woodlands, rocky areas, snowy mountains, sandy plains, heath, grasslands and semi-arid environments.

Common Predators Dingos, eagles and dogs.

What Is an Echidna?

Echidnas are Australia's most widely distributed mammal, and along with the Platypus, are the world's only egg laying mammals. They are classified as monotreme, which basically means the urinary, digestive and reproductive organs have a common opening. Echidnas are sometimes called spiny ant-eaters, because their main diet consists of ants and termites.

Echidnas have a short stocky body which is 30 – 45 centimetres in length and they weigh 2 – 5 kilograms. Cream coloured spines cover the body with the exception of the underside. The 50 millimetre long spines are modified hairs (a bit like your finger nails). Fur between the spines provides insulation and the colour of the fur ranges from a honey colour to dark reddish brown and sometimes even black. Echidnas have a long snout (or beak) 7-8 centimetres long which enables them to break up logs and termite mounds when searching for food.

Although not always easily seen, they are not considered endangered. One of the best signs that an echidna is in the area is the mark they make with their snout in the ground when they're searching for food - a small triangular furrow with a round hole at its base.

When frightened, Echidnas curl into a ball with their snout and legs tucked beneath them and their sharp spines sticking out. They commonly wedge themselves under a rock or dig down into the ground for extra protection.

Where Does an Echidna Live?

Echidnas are found throughout most of Australia. They favour forests and woodlands, rocky areas, snowy mountains, sandy plains, heath, grasslands and semi-arid environments. They can sometimes be seen slowly wandering along roadsides with their characteristic rolling gait.

Echidnas don't like to get hot, so in warmer areas of Australia Echidna's are completely nocturnal. In more temperate regions you will most likely catch sight of them around dusk or dawn when they are out foraging, and in southern Australia during winter they can be out and about in the middle of the day. Echidnas are also surprisingly good swimmers.

What Does an Echidna Eat?

Echidnas use their long sticky tongues to enjoy a diet of small invertebrates including ants, termites, grubs, larvae and worms. They can eat about 2 kilograms of termites in one meal! Echidnas have no teeth so food is crushed between hard pads on the roof of their mouth and on the back of the tongue.

An Echidna's Family Life

Females only breed every 3-7 years and not until they're about 5-7 years old. Breeding occurs during winter.

The courtship between the male and female Echidnas is quite remarkable. Love sick males queue up behind a female, nose to tail, forming long trains that can include up to 11 Echidnas, although 3 or 4 is more common. The trains can last up to 6 weeks before mating eventually happens. The males will sometimes make advances by nudging the female's tail or side with their nose. When the female signals that she's ready to mate the males dig a trench beside and often right around her, competing with each other until only one remains.

The female echidna lays an egg 22 days after mating. It transfers the egg to the pouch where it hatches 10 days later . Only 1.5 centimetres long (about the size of a jellybean), the young (puggle) already has front legs with tiny claws that can hold onto the mother's pouch hair. The egg is usually in the far end of the pouch so the tiny Echidna must travel around six times its own body length to get its first drink of milk. The mother doesn't have teats, so the baby clings to specialised hairs within the pouch where it suckles milk oozing from the mother's mammary glands. Young puggles grow incredibly fast and their mothers spend a lot of time foraging for food to keep up the milk supply.

Puggles begin to grow spines and outgrow the pouch when they're about 7 weeks old. The puggle is then transferred to a nursery burrow where it spends about 5 months. The mother returns to the burrow about once every 5-10 days to feed it. In one feeding a puggle can drink up to 40% of its body weight in milk!

At 7 months old, the weaned puggle is left totally on its own. Unlike most mammals, the mother will leave and even avoid them. This is reflective of the Echidna's character as they are described as solitary, elusive animals. They have highly sensitive hearing and a good sense of smell and use these senses to avoid unwelcome company - even of their own kind.

Echidnas generally live for 10 years in the wild, but have been known to live up to 45 years. Predators include dingos, eagles and dogs.

Want to Know More?

www.abc.net.au/science/scribblygum

www.arazpa.org.au (click on education / animal fact sheets)

www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au (click on Australian plants and animals / native animal fact sheets)