OMG WTF ECHIDNA?!?

(Pic-heavy post behind the cuts)

A surprise visitor to the farm in Goulburn today. My dad was about to go out the back gate when he saw an echidna stroll past. By the time he called us down to see it (me with camera in hand), it had gone around the corner of the fence into the trees and was pretending to be a clump of grass (this is a very popular pursuit among echidnas).

( Like so )

I stayed outside to look at it some more (hey, not every day you see a monotreme in your yard!) and since it had apparently settled in, I slowly moved closer. It had its back to me, snout buried in the corner of the fence.

( They really are beautiful, even as a ball of spines )

I'd pretty much resigned myself to taking photos of The Spines, when suddenly...

( ...movement )

It headed off down the fence, checking out each paling it encountered. Maybe it was trying to get into our main yard - my parents have only been here about two years, and it's taken a while to rabbit-proof the inner sanctum. Or maybe it was just looking for ants. Whatever it was doing, it stopped again, so I headed further down, out of its way but with a good view if it kept walking.

( It did! )

In conclusion, two pics that give a pretty good view of an echidna when it's not just a ball of spines:

( Not a Kiwi )

Hooray for native wildlife!