What lays chickens like an egg, has spines like a porcupine, has a pouch like a wombat, and an appetite and tongue like an anteater? You guessed it: Echidna, the mate of Typhon and daughter of Ceto, who gave birth to Cerberus, Chimera, Sphynx, Hydra, and others...
...wait, I've got my mythology and biology crossed...
Echidna is an Australian creature which comes in both long-beaked and short-beaked varieties. They are powerful diggers and are the bane of ants in the scrublands they call their home (let's face it: ants have it coming). The female echidna lays a single, grape-sized egg once a year. She rolls the egg into her pouch and ten days later gives birth to a puggle. Thus is born the next generation of befuddling beasts.
Thanks for the photo, David.
Photo source: Cleveland Metroparks Zoo via BudgetTravel.com
Aug 19, 2009
Of Spines, Chickens, and Ants
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7 comments:
Cute cute CUTE!
That might be the most adorable thing I have ever seen! I am wondering if the quills are as dangerous as they are on the porcupine, since the handler is not wearing any gloves. What a great addition to your next picnic!!!
"What lays chickens like an egg"? heh
Ellen- Unlike porcupines', echidna spines don't come off. I still wouldn't want to get ... stabbed? by them, but I guess you just have to be careful.
Although their spines are not as bad as a porcupine's, the male Echidna, like the Platipus, has venomous spines on it's hind legs.
I witnessed an echidna waddling along in the Australian outback (Adelaide, South Australia), and it was the most adorable waddle ever.
Something else to note about this unusual creature is that the males have a four headed penis. When mating, two heads will function while the other half remained shut down, and the next time he mates, he'll use the other half, vice versa.
Ah, Australia...
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