Echidna Tale

Echidna Tale

FINALIST, 2009 WATERHOUSE Natural History Art Prize, SA Museum. Original Work SOLD.
Limited edition prints available

Pastel, Ink & Pen Drawing on Japanese Rice Paper

NATURAL HISTORY series … Protected Copyright

In 2006 I was fortunate enough to observe a portly echidna for one hour as it foraged for its lunch at the bottom of the Giant Staircase located beneath the Three Sisters, Katoomba, in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales. The ranger informed me that sightings were extremely rare in this celebrated tourist destination…so, I now share with you my memory of this beautiful mammal…

Short beaked Echidna (genus: Tachyglossus aculeatus)
Echidnas belong to the Tachyglossidae family of monotremes (egg laying mammals). Together with the platypus, they are the only surviving members of that order. Named after a monster in Greek mythology, Australian echidnas dwell in habitats as diverse as the snowy Alps and the red deserts of the Northern Territory.
Small mammals covered with coarse hair and needle-sharp spines, their slender, elongated snouts function as both mouth and nose; the mouth is tiny with a toothless jaw. Their short limbs utilise their large claws as powerful diggers. Echidnas feed by tearing open soft logs and anthills and use their long, sticky tongue which protrudes from their snout to collect prey. The female lays a single soft-shelled, leathery egg twenty-two days after mating and deposits it directly into her pouch. After ten days, the baby echidna known as a Puggle hatches; it then sucks milk from the pores of two milk patches (monotremes have no nipples) and remains in mummy’s pouch for up to fifty-five days, where it begins to develop spines. Mother Echidna digs a nursery burrow and deposits her Puggle, returning every five days to suckle until weaning her baby seven months later. Male echidnas have a four-headed penis, but only two of the heads are used during mating. The ‘active’ heads are swapped each time the male has sex.

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