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I didn’t realise there was a fourth species I had to rescue a horny short nosed one which had trapped itself between gutters on a high speed road while looking
by lmpdev 3y ago
I didn’t realise there was a fourth species
I had to rescue a horny short nosed one which had trapped itself between gutters on a high speed road while looking for a mate a few years ago
These things are STRONG. The spikes aren’t much of a concern if you’re trying to pick one up, but it’s essentially a sphere of pure muscle and bones
- bitwize 3y agoIf you tangle with an Echidna Warrior, get ready for a fight. Highlight of my Australia Zoo visit was seeing a zookeeper holding an echidna like a baby and feeding her honey.
- cookie_monsta 3y ago> I had to rescue a horny short nosed one which had trapped itself between gutters on a high speed road while looking for a mate a few years ago Love a good dangling modifier. Did you end up finding your mate?
- stephenr 3y agoHe found a horny echidna, I think he found a new mate.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- Jedd 3y ago> I didn’t realise there was a fourth species Hang on, which are you calling the fourth? A popular pub-trivia question is how many types of (living) monotremes are there - two (echidna and platypus). However if the question is how many (living) monotreme species - then (well, up until now) the answer was four - the platypus, plus three species of echidna (Western, Sir David's, and Eastern).
- adaml_623 3y agoBBC article on the same news: "Of the four echidna species three have long beaks, with the Attenborough echidna, and the western echidna considered critically endangered." We need references stay!
- Jedd 3y agoAh, thanks - I hadn't gone reading other news sites about this article, and had assumed GP was referring TFA, but couldn't see anything that might have inspired that comment. Though I did note that TFA used the misleading (or simply wrong) phrase: "A different echidna species is found throughout Australia and lowland New Guinea."
- dwd 3y agoVery tough, and they hang on tight to the ground when you go to rescue one that's in a dangerous place. But possibly the only Australian native animal that you don't have to worry about being bitten, kicked, clawed or envenomed.
- serf 3y ago>but it’s essentially a sphere of pure muscle and bones that's kind of how handling a large male basset hound is.
- gonzo41 3y agoI had this happen as well. My trick is to pour water on them. They get a suprise and then are easy to scoop up and move to the bush close by.
- EdwardDiego 3y agoThey're rather delightful. I went into the NSW bush and was disappointed at the lack of snakes and spiders the size of dinner plates, but I saw an echnida doing its own thing and spent half an hour just watching its slow and methodical path.