Wildcare is saying goodbye to its only puggle - ‘Ami’. Ami is a baby echidna. She came into care six months ago as a 130 gram five week old blob with no discernable eyes or ears and after six months is leaving as a fully developed juvenile echidna and with a fine set of prickly spines.

Ami was found by a Rhodesian Ridgeback who brought it home to its owner in its mouth completely unharmed. Coralie, who has been caring for Ami over the last few months, said “Ami’s mum must have been digging a nursery burrow and deposited her little bundle where she thought it was safe to come back to later. Unfortunately, the Rhodesian Ridgeback found Ami and picked her up.”

Echidnas are interesting animals and are found throughout Australia. Being solitary and shy animals, we don’t often see them. They are typically found in rocky areas, in hollow logs and holes and burrows around tree roots. To have a puggle in care is unusual and there are special techniques needed to make sure they develop.

Coralie went on to say “At first I had to recreate an artificial burrow with a plastic crate and rolled-up towel. Feeding was interesting as I had to drip a tiny amount of special milk into the palm of my hand and then allow Ami to slurp it up. Down the track and with her eyes, ears and spines fully developed she acted more like a real echidna and whilst she still slurped up the milk, she also had other titbits. In the wild echidnas eat termites and other insects. As Ami grew I had to create another home with buckets of dirt and an old termite log, so she could dig”.

Eventually Ami will grow to about five kilograms. “It is fascinating to see this tiny grey-skinned blob develop into a beautiful spiny echidna with all of its genetic instincts in tact. Echidnas are one of only two monotremes – egg laying mammals - in the world. The other one is the platypus and they are of course both native to Australia. We are lucky to have these animals in our region. And whilst the Rhodesian Ridgeback did the right thing in the end – picked up and protected Ami – perhaps it would have been best if she had not been allowed to wander around on her own in the first place”.

If you want to get involved, or get advice, ring Wildcare on 6299 1966 and visit their website www.wildcare.com.au.