Hobbies And Interests
Background
Echidnas are stocky, spine-covered mammals; they even have spines in their mouths that they use to grind food. They have elongated snouts, long tongues and powerful claws and muscles for digging. Though echidnas are mammals, they reproduce by laying eggs; once an echidna's single egg hatches, the offspring remains in the echidna's pouch until its spines start to harden.
Habitat
Long-beaked echidnas live in New Guinea, and short-beaked echidnas live in Australia, Indonesia and New Guinea. Short-beaked echidnas do well in a variety of environments, including woodlands, savannas, farmlands and arid or semi-arid areas. They can be found at altitudes from the coasts to the snowline. Long-beaked echidnas mostly live in montane forests or alpine meadows. In semi-arid ecosystems the echidna helps circulate nutrients in the soil through its digging.
Food
The echidna eats invertebrates such as termites, ants and earthworms; it often eats insect larvae. It will dig a foraging pit in the dirt, often under the tree canopy. Electroreceptors underneath the echidna's beak or snout help it locate invertebrates. After digging into the ground or into an insect mound, the echidna uses its long, mucous-coated tongue to catch its meal. Because it has no teeth, the echidna uses spines located at the base of its tongue and on the roof of its mouth to grind up its food.
Predators
When threatened by a predator, the echidna can roll itself up, presenting its enemy with a spine-covered ball. The adult echidna can also hide beneath rocks or dig into the ground until only its spines remain visible. As a result of its defense mechanisms, the echidna doesn't have many predators. On occasion, pigs, feral cats, foxes or dingoes will eat vulnerable young echidnas. Cars and hunters are the echidna's biggest threats.