Saturday, November 3, 2012

A Special Visitor

Look who came visiting today............


At first he tried to pretend he wasn't there, but once he decided that I wasn't too much of a threat, he went on his waddling little way in search of ants to eat.



This is of course, an echidna, a primitive mammal of the monotreme class. The only other monotreme I know of is the platypus. What makes them so special is that, although they are mammals, they lay eggs. Echidnas are only occasional visitors to our garden, so it is always a great thrill to see one passing through. This little fellow was obliging enough to hang around long enough so that I could fetch my camera. We love to encourage native wildlife in our garden, and with five fairly unkempt acres, we do see quite a few different species. Apart from echidnas we also have visits from: wallabies, bandicoots, brushtail possums, ringtail possums, blue tongue lizards, green-and-gold bell frogs, black cockatoos, white cockatoos, a sea eagle, masked lapwings, native hens, mountain ducks, magpies, superb blue wrens, scarlet robins, Eastern rosellas, swallows and a few snakes. I'm pretty sure I've missed a few.
For those of you who have never encountered an echidna, they are about the size of a football and the spines are very sharp!




12 comments:

Kays Kids said...

He looks as though he is rolling along when he walks. Wonderful.

Jo in TAS said...

I get excited when i see wildlife, i've seen lots of echidnas! I'd rather not see snakes though yikky!

Jan Conwell said...

Not a fellow you'd wanna curl up with! :~) Cute though. Looks pretty set on his mission.

Wateringen said...

Deze Susie,

Ohhh...this blog is so lovely.
And your dolls amazing!
You are a very big artist..I love
your dolls..

Susie I have send you a mail..about
buying some materials and a doll kit.
I want try t make a doll...

Please can you send me a mail back...

Love from Holland, from Marijke
www.marijkevanooijen.blogspot.com
email: marijkevanooijen1@gmail.com

I hope to hear from you...

maddyrose said...

The only animals to wander into my yard are cats and dogs, snakes and this year a neighbor's pet rabbit. I'd love for one of these little fellas to come through.

Ron said...

Too cool!
you have all the best critters!
:)

Penny said...

You have such wonderfully, original animals in your part of the world! Ours, I'm afraid, are quite mundane - but we love them anyway and always love when they pop into our yard for a visit.

Hill Top Post said...

Think I might give him a wide berth...cute little fellow though! Have been admiring your latest work...amazing as always!

Joel said...

Hi, Nice post thanks for sharing. Would you please consider adding a link to my website on your page. Please email me back.

Thanks!

Joel
JHouston791@gmail.com

Unknown said...

Oooo! How exciting to have such a wonderful animal visitor! And your other visitor list is exciting too as I love them all! We encourage wildlife in our garden as well and it's always a special treat. Thank you so much for sharing Susie! :-)

~ Deb

Rhissanna said...

Oh, he (or she?)is adorable. I'm glad he stayed around long enough to be photographed. It's always sad when you rush for the camera and get back outside to photograph an elusive visitor, and they've buggered off.

Wateringen said...

Dear Susie,

I have put a post of you and your beautiful
dolls on my blog..
I hope you like this...

Love from Marijke
www.marijkevanooijen.blogspot.com

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