Echidna Archives - INSPIRING MAX

N: Natural Surroundings

April 17, 2022April 17, 2022 inspiringmax

During our recent holiday we meet many Australian animals. Some were cute and exciting while others scary. Either way it was fun to see them in their natural surroundings. The following grey kangaroos, echidna, and emus we found roaming around the picnic at Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve. We had a barbeque dinner there at about 7.30pm just as they began feeding for the day. The koalas you can read more about in my previous post Koalas in the Wild.

The emus were very brave and kept coming up to us as we were eating our meal. Fortunately they didn’t steal any of our food but we still kept our guard up until they went back into the bush from whence they had came.

This echidna was huge. He sudden revealed himself out of the litter on the ground and wandered up the hill. As we got closer to get a photo he was scared and went into hiding again. He was the biggest echidna I have seen and the only one in the bush. I have seen small ones on the side of the road before.

These black wallabies were a real surprise to find. We were walking around Griffith Island that breeds mutton birds during the summer and they suddenly popped up to see what was going on. They kept their distance and we couldn’t get closer to them than the paths allowed. They were very cute and inquisitive.

This Bearded Dragon suddenly appeared under my feet in a park in St Arnaud. Luckily I have a bad habit of looking at the ground as I walk or I may have walked on him. I will admit he did scare me so on my way back to the car I took the long way around.

Fortunately we didn’t see see any snakes on our travels. But as it was the end of summer when we traveled we were very aware of where we were. While snakes themselves are scary, Australia also has a large number of the world’s most venomous and they live in the areas were traveling in.

The kangaroos probably eastern grey were in a mob. It was 0630 on the first day of our holiday just off the side of our camp. When my husband first saw them we thought that they were logs in the paddock. But then as the sun rose, they moved. I walked through the grass on our side of the fence to get a better look. They looked at me like I was putting on a show.

The following kookaburras were fun to get close to. The first one was at Echuca and the second one was above our camp for the night at Teddy’s Lookout.

Blogging From A-Z: E is Echidna

April 6, 2020April 6, 2020 inspiringmax

#AtoZChallenge 2020 Blogging from A to Z Challenge letter E

Echidnas, also known as spiny ant eaters, live alone in the Australian bush. The only time they are with other echidnas is during mating seasons. Echidnas are egg laying mammals like a platypus and have a pouch like a kangaroo. Their bodies are covered in spines like porcupines, which are actually hairs. They also have no teeth but have a long sticky tongue. A puggle is a baby echidna.

We found this little cutie in his natural habitat at Barrington Tops Nation Park. He walked across the road in front of us so we decided to stop and chat to him. He didn’t seem to be phased by us at all and just waddled past. Slowly but very confidently.

Echidnas are always exciting to watch. This one I named Eric.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Evanescent

May 26, 2017 inspiringmax

Last weekend my husband and I went on a road trip to Barrington Tops National Park, where we enjoyed many fleeting moments in time. My favourite was the time we spent with an echidna, one of our wild Australian animals. We found her on the side of the road as we drove past. She was only the second echidna I’ve seen in the wild and she was a treasure to behold. In truth, I don’t know the echidna’s sex but we nicknamed her Edna so she was a female to us.

Initially, she was scared of us taking photos of her so she hid in her spines until she thought the coast was clear.

Then she decided to walk into the bush for a moment.

We however weren’t giving up so we kept very still and she came out to play again. Walking or should I say waddling around on the road in front of us for over 5 minutes. I don’t know what she thought I was but she just kept walking towards me.

She was absolutely beautiful. Then, just as we had finished watching Edna, my husband noticed in the distance that one of the wild brumbies (wild horses) we had driven past earlier had wandered into the middle of the road and was just standing there.