Echidna
Transcript of Echidna
Diet
Ants Termites Grabs Larvae Worms Sense electrical
signals from insects Uses claws to dig &
exposes insects Licks them up with
his long sticky tongue
Description
Coarse hair Longer hair which are creamy
colour are spines – 5cm long 30 -45cm long 2 – 5 kg Short legs with long claws Pointy snout Tiny mouth – no teeth
- long sticky tongue
Habitat The Echidnas main
requirement is a large supply of ants and termites so Echidnas are found all over Australia from the highlands to deserts to forests
The Echidna has no fixed home, except when the female is suckling its young.
Echidnas can be found in a variety of shelters from rocks to fallen wood, small caves, or even under bushes
Predators
Cars kills hundreds every year on our roads.
Goannas eat young Echidnas Dingoes, foxes as well as feral
cats and dogs Bushfires and Droughts are a
natural enemy
Breeding / Reproduction develops a pouch at the start of the mating
season which occurs in July and August. 3 weeks or so after matting the female digs a
burrow and lays 1 soft leathery like egg into this pouch.
10 days for an Echidna egg to hatch The young blind hairless Echidna attaches
itself to a milk patch on its mothers skin inside the pouch and suckles for the next 8 to 12 weeks
Once spines develop on the young Echidna is "evicted” from the pouch but stays in the burrow.
Mum Echidna comes back and regularly lets the young Echidna suckle. This occurs for the next 6 months
Baby Echidna is called a Puggle