ECHIDNA

This is an Echidna in a protective/defensive position. Sized up to around 43cm long (17 inches) and 4kg heavy. Echidnas eat ants, termites and other small invertebrates. It uses a long snout and a long tongue coated in sticky saliva. Pairs breed in Winter-Spring during which a soft-shelled egg is laid. Ten days later the young hatch. The female will then suckle her young while in a burrow for around 3 months. Location: Australia. ((Order: Monotremata, Family: Tachyglossidae.))