From dry deserts to humid rainforests or in the Australian Alps, are some of the places in Australia where this mesmerizing creature Echidna can be spotted. Echidnas are monotremes, egg-laying mammals. They do not make their own nest or shelter and prefer to sleep in hollow logs and areas where there are fallen trees. In very hot weather, they may shelter from the heat in rabbit or wombat burrows. The feeding timing of Echidna ranges from dusk to dawn and their staple diet consists of ants and termites. The Echidnas roam around smelling ants and then flicking their sticky tongues out to gobble them. They eat a lot of dirt, which helps to break down and crush the ants, as they have no teeth to chew with. Echidnas gorge on large meals and then do not eat for many days.
|
| Echidnas are widely distributed throughout Australia, and New Guinea. There are several kinds of spiny ant-eater. A short-beaked species with strong and numerous spines is widely distributed throughout the mainland. The Tasmanian species is larger and more hairy. In Papua and New Guinea there is the long-beaked species, with dense fur, and whose beak is nearly twice as long as its head and has a downward curve. Echidnas are solitary and restricted to a home range. They rest in hollow logs, under stones, clumps of vegetation or in short burrows. Unlike other Australian mammals, it can be seen during the daytime. | Their pattern of activity appears to be influenced by the temperature, and they may be active by day or by night. In the hotter parts of the continent they tend to be nocturnal. They are rarely seen during winter. |
