The Tasmanian Echidna - Tachyglossus aculeatus setosus
Unlike platypuses, echidnas are land animals although they are able to swim quite well. Echidnas are not related to either hedgehogs or porcupines but are related to the platypus: both lay eggs and are monotremes.
Of course the echidna is highly specialized for its way of life and the large number of spines covering the animal’s back and sides coupled with a bird-like beak are stand-out features. The spines not only protect the creature from predators but also act as extra fingers while the beak can be used as a tool to force open cracks in rotten wood.
At Platypus House, we try to show you far more than these features. You will leave our Echidna Garden with a wealth of knowledge about this enigmatic animal which will bring a smile to your face every time you see one on your travels around Tasmania.
Echidnas (and platypuses) learn quickly; their intelligence has been compared favourably with that of cats and rats. You will be able to observe this learning ability for yourselves during your tour as our echidnas come over to be fed by their keepers on having their names called. They are also curious about new objects entering their garden: handbags, children’s prams and camera cases become potential burrows or climbing frames for our inquisitive echidnas if left unattended!
During feeding, the long tongue of the echidna can be seen. Few visitors to our garden have correctly guessed the length of an echidna’s tongue and we shall leave the answer for when we see you. However, it is longer than 10cm and shorter than 20cm.
As an echidna waddles past you, you may hear much snorting. Echidnas must keep their noses clean so that they can smell their food and breath but at the same time they like to push their beaks into nooks and crannies searching for ants and termites. Often they will blow bubbles of mucus out of their noses thereby removing dirt which has entered the nasal cavity. Handkerchiefs are not part of an echidna’s wardrobe but snorting and having a runny nose tell us that the animals are healthy.
Sudden noise frightens echidnas since they have very sensitive hearing. Indeed the ear mechanism also permits them to pick up ground vibrations. The hearing organ of these animals is vital for finding food such as ants and termites moving beneath the soil or in tunnels within timber and also to alert them to the approach of potential danger. It is very difficult to get close to an echidna in the wild before it buries itself in the ground because the animal has picked up the vibrations of your foot-steps. At Platypus House, the echidnas are used to people walking through their garden and take no notice of humans so long as they are not noisy.
Echidnas have days when they bury themselves under leaves or even in underground burrows. The Tasmanian echidna tends to undergo a sophisticated physiological process we call torpor. During torpor their body temperature may fall as low as 4ºC. during which time they take1 breath/min. or even 1 breath/3 min. Some animals have failed to breathe for up to two hours while in torpor. Such a physiological event takes place in the winter or on during hot summer days. Echidnas hate hot weather and try to keep their body temperature close to 32ºC., which is similar to that of the platypus. The garden at Platypus House is air-conditioned to ensure our echidnas are active throughout the year round.
Spring is breeding time for echidnas but it has proved very hard to persuade them to mate in captivity. We will leave you to imagine how a male echidna mates with his partner except to point out that he and a group of fellow suitors have to become good mining engineers! The mated female lays a single egg (slightly smaller than an Australian 5 cent coin) into a pseudo-pouch. At 50-60 days the baby (puggle) is placed in a special burrow and mother visits her offspring every few days to feed it milk. In the dark burrow spines and hair grow over the little animal and the eyes finally open. At seven months or so of age the little puggle is on its own and must face the world outside the burrow.
Your tour through our Echidna Garden will give you a wonderful insight into these enchanting egg laying mammals and permit you to take home a lasting memory of a creature found no where else in the world.
