I came across this echidna whilst bushwalking recently. I was amazed how relaxed it was, and it even let me follow it back to it's burrow. I initially just thought it was a rock until it started moving!

The echidna belongs to a special group of mammals called monotremes. There are only three monotremes, two of them are echidnas. The short-beaked echidna is found in Australia and the long beaked echidna is found in New Guinea. The other monotreme is the platypus.

An echidna is covered with hair and with sharp spines on its back and sides. The spines protect the animal from enemies.

Echidnas grow to be about 40 centimetres long. They weigh about 8 kilograms.

The echidna has a snout and a long sticky tongue. It uses its tongue to lick up ants and termites. The echidna doesn't have teeth, but it has hard pads inside its mouth to grind up the ants and termites before swallowing them.

The echidna has long, sharp claws on its feet. It uses them to dig open ant and termite nests. It also digs rapidly into the ground to escape from enemies such as eagles, dingoes, and in Tasmanian, the Tasmanian Devil.

It was such a privilage to get this close to a totally wild creature that didn't live in a zoo.

http://www.imagebam.com/gallery/egfn229gohndfnyylnnrhy3gu1o5qf42/

When I read the title. I thought you meant you had a bad encounter with an Enchilada.

My bad. Thank for sharing this and great capture! 

LOL no a good encounter for sure!

What a lovely experience. I can understand why you were thrilled :-) It is So cute.

Thank you for this interesting experience and the facts surrounding this mammal.

Neat little fellow!

My only sililar enounter was with a burrito. They also bury in the ground to escape predators.  : )

This little echidna is a neat animal. Australia seems to have an abundance of unique critters.... thanks for the info.        Tom.

It seems the echida is endangered and to see one in the wild is also a rare event.  That was a very fortunate walk!

Tom this is a short beaked echidna and is not endangered. These echidnas are highly adaptable to a variety of conditions, so they are one of the Australian native animals which has been least affected by European settlement and the associated problems of habitat loss. The echidna is currently listed as "common" throughout Australia and its conservation status is not listed as endangered. 

It is a remarkably adaptable creature which can live wherever there are termites or ants. 

The echidna is less affected by habitat loss than many other species, as it does not need a specialised environment, just a good supply of ants and termites. There are areas of Australia where echidnas were once common, but have not been sighted in years. The biggest threats are dogs and cars. However, the echidna still enjoy healthy populations in less urbanised areas. 

Natural predators to the echidna are dingoes, and goannas and snakes may prey on young echidnas, sometimes taking them from their burrows.

However - the long-beaked echidna of New Guinea, including its sub-species, is endangered.

Thanks for the clarification...appreciated. : )  Tom

Nice shots of a charming little creature.  I should keep one in my backyard as the termites there are wild and crazy.  Here in AZ, termites pretty much own the place.  I hate to see everyone poisoning the ground and a natural solution would be much better.