Saturday, 15 December 2012

Close Encounters of the Spiny Kind

My recent day trip to Bruny Island was even more amazing than I managed to show you last week. We had an extraordinary experience near the Captain Cook Memorial at Adventure Bay.


Soon after we saw the wallaby
we spotted this little fellow

At first he was quite shy

Then he became rather fearless
(a totally uncropped photo)

It was amazing

He still became a bit shy at times

But he ambled happily nearby for quite a while
And then we caught a glimpse of his extraordinary feet

Our friend of course is an echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus setosus in this case).

 Saturday Snapshot, is a wonderful weekly meme from at home with books
at

14 comments:

  1. The Daemon15 December 2012 at 11:57

    Wow! Just. Wow.

    Such lovely little creatures. Did you know their babies are called "puggles"!? So cute, and quite the media darlings... http://www.perthzoo.wa.gov.au/world-first-breeding-success-at-perth-zoo-13094/
    rightly so, as they are totally adorable, I think!

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  2. Louise15 December 2012 at 16:54

    I did know they were called puggles. How cute are the babies? I hadn't seen the Perth story, thanks for sharing that. You wouldn't think they'd be so hard to breed in captivity would you?

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  3. Brona15 December 2012 at 17:24

    Lucky you. I've only ever spotted an echinda racing off into the bush!
    They're almost as shy as the platypus!!

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  4. (Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea15 December 2012 at 23:04

    What an amazing capture. How cute is he!

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  5. Paulita 15 December 2012 at 23:25

    And I didn't know it was hard to spot an echidna, cause there are none in the U.S. Funny the animals we take for granted in our own backyard. Some friends from New Zealand were fascinated by our squirrels that run along the wires and scurry up trees. She said they didn't have squirrels. A world without squirrels or echidnas is hard to imagine. Here's Mine

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  6. Laurel-Rain Snow16 December 2012 at 00:08

    I love the little wallaby...and he looks so prickly! Thanks for sharing.

    Here's MY SATURDAY SNAPSHOT POST

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  7. Kaye16 December 2012 at 01:30

    He's adorable! Great capture!!

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  8. Joy16 December 2012 at 05:07

    Cool! I'd never seen an echidna before one showed up at our local zoo in the children's section. Such an intriguing animal.

    Joy's Book Blog

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  9. Unknown16 December 2012 at 05:24

    How cool! I've never seen a live porcupine!!

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  10. Melwyk16 December 2012 at 05:58

    Wonderful photos! I've never seen an echidna and I'm glad you told us what it was because I wasn't quite sure... thanks for sharing such an unusual encounter.

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  11. Alyce16 December 2012 at 08:27

    I never would have guessed what that was - so neat that you got to see one up close! At first glance I thought maybe it was a porcupine.

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  12. Anonymous16 December 2012 at 09:53

    I've never seen anything like this... an echidna? I admit I haven't heard of it. I thought it was a hedgehog. What an interesting and rare find. (maybe not so rare in your part of the world?)

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  13. edgar16 December 2012 at 12:33

    After koala bear, echidna is my other favorite animal.
    One of our grandchildren likes platypus.

    Very nice you were able to take several photos.

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  14. Martha Eskuchen22 December 2012 at 10:49

    How cute! I love seeing animals, birds and unusual plants. Thanks fo sharing.

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