Tuesday 28 April 2009

Echinda scare.........

Meant to show you these pics but I got slack forgot............the other night I got home after dark...........dh had been good and left the shed doors open..............the sensor light wasn't working so I drove in and had to walk to the back of the car to turn on the light..........I got out and was getting things out of the front of the car and i heard a noise..........told myself it was me brushing on the door...........(yeh right)...........

As I walked to the back of the car (pitch dark) I just heard this scratchy noise next to me..................OMG.............what the hell is that............no it must just be a rat, snake, goanna, mouse but I flicked that light on pretty darn quick and ran out of the shed..........felt like an eternity til the light flicked on and what do i find............an echina...........there are some building supplies leaned against the shed wall and the poor echidna was trying to dig into it................a quick scream yell and dh came out - got the shovel and rescued the poor thing from the shed.............

here is the echidna all rolled up on his back.............see his feet there...........

there are a lot of lighter colour quills on this echidna.............

sent it off in a safe direction......it started digging it's self into my lawn and I left it is peace...........

no sign of it the next day..................cute hey...........very hard to get it's face............

edit: bookworm also has part of an echidna skeleton..........some of the quills........lost the foot...........he found it a few years ago.........

.........take care til next time.............
.......Chookyblue..........

26 comments:

Abby and Stephanie said...

Well it's something only a mother could love! It looks like a cactus on it's back.

Stina Blomgren said...

Never ever seen a picture of those..sooo thanks..have to show my son when he comes home.. some spikes there!! WOW!!

Rumi said...

Yikes! What a scare! Isn't it amazing how your imagination can really run away with you in those kinds of situations! So glad it turned out to be something cute (if not cuddly)

ranette said...

Looks a little like a porcupine doesn't it? I'd rather deal with a snake I think!

Shari said...

Don't you just love living in Oz? Fantastic...

Lilly said...

What a cute, funny, scary, strange animal! Thanks for sharing the pics....

Lynn said...

Weirdly enough - that little guy is cute! Wouldn't want to bump into one though.

Annie said...

What a great story about the Austalian bush creatures. Glad it wasn't a BIG BROWN snake!

Val said...

Is it sticky like a porcupine? If so, I am glad you didn't run into it. I would have been scared to. I have never heard of one of those. It is so unique looking. Thanks for sharing.

Terry said...

Awe...poor little thing must have been scared to death! Glad your DH was able to rescue it!

KaHolly said...

I've never heard of an echidna! What a curious little creature. I'll bet there are lots of different little live things in Australia!

Unknown said...

Does it hurt/attack people?

Anonymous said...

This story is still as funny second time around!! ;) Only cause I can imagine it all happening! Hopefully your Echidna is having a happy and healthy life on the farm away from the garage!

Willow Grove - Kez said...

He so cute. What a surprise though

Calidore said...

I would have been terrified too. Love the photos. Having seen on in the flesh I always wonder how on earth they don't stick themselves with all those quills when they roll up. Ahh the wonders we have in Australia and in this case in your shed.

simplestitches said...

Cute little guy, bet he got a scare too...love our Aussie wildlife, always up for something different!
take care
Julz

Jo in TAS said...

Poor litle fella! All that bright light must've traumatised him. Lucky you didn't run him over.

Thimbleanna said...

Wow! Thanks for posting this -- I didn't know what an Echinda was -- he's kind of cute!

StockdaleJo said...

Wow, great pics!...arent they wonderful creatures.

We have a nest (if you call it that) living under our old woolshed. In the winter they tend to crawl around at night chasing the ants - we have lots of ants nests around. The dogs go crazy barking all night but they are just magic to find.

Amazing creatures.

Cheers

Leanne said...

It could have been nasty is you stepped on him in the dark. ooch

Julz said...

Wow - completely different to our wee hedgehogs we get here ! Sure would be scary to come across in the dark - loved your description :) Hugs Jx

Helz said...

Still Chuckling... Our Imagination sure can take wings in the dark... Lol. I've not seen the lighter coloured quills before.

Jenny said...

What a gorgeous fellow! Great photos-must like your place:)

limpingalong said...

An ant eater! Ok, have I got a deal for you. You see, we have these awful pests called fire ants.
Do you think your little pet would think they were just Tex-Mex style eats? If so, I'll pay to ship him here and he will soon be fat and sassy!

Lady of the Cloth said...

I've never seen one of these, We don't have them in the US or at least not on the West Coast where I live. It looks a lot like the pics of hedge hogs I've seen. How big is it?

Bec said...

Echidna's are so cute, LOL and prickly! If dh sees one on the road near home he bings it home to show the kids, but like yours we neer see it the next day - they don't seem to hang around. DH uses leather gloves to handle them.
oh, and they are not good on your car tyres - we hit one on a dark night many years ago, luckily dh swerved as soon as he realised so we only had one tyre punctured and not two.