A SMALL and very spikey visitor was spotted by a family in their front yard in Rosewood on their return home from a day out last Saturday.
The echidna was spotted by Barry who lives in Albert Street in Rosewood.
And he almost missed it.
“I had just returned from a day out and my family were exiting the car.
“They all walked straight out to the backyard, as I walked to the letter box on the front lawn to check for mail,” he said.
As he walked to the front door after collecting the mail he spotted what he first thought was a large rock.
A quick double check and he realised it was an echidna.
“As the echidna is a native animal to this area, I am aware that these animals can be commonly spotted but this is the first time that I have seen one in my yard,” Barry said.
“I left it alone and just kept an eye on it to make sure it did not track towards the road.”
It slowly moved forward, darting its head from side to side looking for something to forage.
“It was quite small I would say only about 15 centimetres and moved very slowly, but within about 20 minutes it went about making its way to the road,” he said.
“Hesitant at first because I believe you should always just leave wild animals alone, I thought that I needed to move it because the last thing that I wanted was for it to be hit be a car.
“So, together with the help from my son, we gently placed a towel over it and tried carefully to lift it.
“This proved to become quite a huge challenge as it then buried itself into the grass and the ground.”
They decided to sit and watch in case it again tried to make its way out onto the road.
When it made a move about five minutes later, Barry and his son were successful in picking it up once it reached the bitumen where it could not burrow in and deposited it in their backyard, well away from the road.
Not sure how to make it safe, Barry did some research and found that it was very important not to relocate echidnas as they are territorial. Also, if you must pick them up due to safety reasons, it needs to be done with care as they latch onto the grass and there is the danger of hurting or dislocating their legs.
The echidna Barry moved showed no signs of distress and he is asking other residents to be aware of echidnas through the area and to take care they don’t stray onto the road.
