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| Monday, May 22, 2006 |
| Echidna Wrangling |
Yesterday Ata and Mr Ata went with their Friends-Around-the-Corner to a National Park near Victor Harbour.
For those who don't know - basically everyone likely to be reading this, I guess - Victor Harbour is a Seaside Town about an hour south of Adelaide. It has whale-watching in winter and an island where penguins live. The island is connected to the mainland with a big bridge that has a horse-drawn tram which one may ride upon for a small fee.
Ata's FAC began a PhD some years ago. Part of her study involved the placing of traps for the catching of critters. While they were actively working the traps, this involved FAC spending one week a month camping out and checking traps daily. They were studying pygmy possums, which are pretty much what the name suggests.
Now, the traps are no longer being used, and must be removed. They are a basic hole-in-the-ground traps made from Giant Mayonnaise Buckets purchased from a fast-food outlet. When they are being used, the lid is taken off so critters fall in and cannot get out. Hence they must be checked daily. When they are not being used, the lids are left on. Some of the traps were to be left in place, as the University intends to use them again in the future, but most of the rest had to be taken out. However, after... mm... nigh on 10 years, some of the buckets/lids are a little the worse for wear. Particularly the lids, some of which were cracked and leaking, some broken, some seemed to have been removed by Larrikins (presumably) and left on the ground. Of those traps being left in place, we had to check lid/bucket integrity and cover the tops up with dirt to prevent animal injury (positions were marked with a white stake).
There was a fairly large contingent assembled for this effort, as it was 125 traps to be removed/checked. Mostly removed. Ata was swiftly denied a shovel and handed a large garbage bag instead, to collect bucket lids in. She did get the opportunity to demonstrate ideal bucket removal technique to Mr Ata and FAC's father-in-law. That is, once a ditch has been dug around the bucket and the handle unearthed, stand directly over the trap and pull up on the handle, taking care to lift with one's knees. This minimises bucket damage, back injury, and shovel breakage. After ten years in the ground, some of the traps were difficult to remove. One shovel handle was snapped due to overly aggressive application of leverage. It was not a cheap shovel, either. Ata should know - she bought it.
The highlight of the day - aside from discovering that several traps were now housing frogs that had made their homes in accumulated mud at the bottom of traps with damaged lids - was the echidna!
One trap with a broken lid was found to contain a soggy and disgruntled but otherwise undamaged echidna. This resulted in the whole group gathering around to observe the spiky critter as it peered up out of the trap, and debating how best to remove it from the trap. Most considered it unwise to attempt to dig up the trap with the echidna inside, wanting to minimise trauma and potential echidna damage. No-one, however, was too keen on removing the beast.
Except Ata, of course, who's desire to handle critters always outweighs sensible caution. Of course, the fact that she was wearing leather gloves did come under some consideration. Even so, prising the critter out of the bucket was a little tricksy, as it was just big enough to occupy the whole diameter of the trap - making it difficult to get two hands on it. Ata settled for one hand, scooping the beast up the side of the bucket until she could get a proper grip. Here's a surprise - echidnas squeak! Like little mice! Ata did not know that.
Ata thought the echidna should go to a vet or wildlife service for checking. It's feet were wet and swollen, and it was unknown how long it had been in the trap. It was put into a dry bucket until FAC could be found to give a final verdict. She felt it looked healthy enough for immediate release, so released it was - onto a sandy patch where it immediately began digging itself in.
Ata loves echidnas. Cute little spikely monotremes. Who cares about koalas when there are echidnas.
All the traps were checked or removed by the time it started to look like home-time. Which was good. The emu that had greeted the first arrivals at the gate and attempted to dismantle the last arrival's car was no where to be seen on the drive back to the gate. There were many roos about, though, and very active as it was just on dusk. FAC drove the University 4WD slowly and with great caution, particularly after one especially enthusiastic roo made a flying leap over some fallen branches and across in front of the car. The males of the group walked part of the way out, as there was insufficient space in the troopie to carry all at once (we had arrived in shifts as different people got lost - the instructions were missing a crucial turn off).
It was cold and dark by the time we got back to Adelaide. Ata and Mr Ata stopped at a favourite haunt for food before proceeding home. It was a good day. |
posted by Ata @ 6:50 pm  |
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| 6 Comments: |
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I love echidnas. I've seen a couple in the wild, one stuck under a fence that was gently freed by a neighbour and one that was walking (or waddling) across a road near my house.
I love the way they waddle. They're just so damn cute.
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I have no idea what an echidna is. It sounds like a large, cute hedgehog.
Is it related to Drop Bears?
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No. Echidnas are related to platypuses. Drop bears are descended from a line of Australian megafauna that hunted diprotodons and climbed trees to keep the kill.
Echidna:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echidna
Drop bear:
http://geocities.com/muirnin/db.htm
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I guess it's the aussie equivalent of the hedgehog, appearance-wise anyway.
As the echidna eats ants and termites, it has a pointy snout and a sticky tongue. And i think it has quite powerful front legs with claws for digging into ants nests. Maybe ata can confirm this.
Echidnas and platypus are the sole remaining living representatives of a very early form of mammals (the monotremes) that lay eggs like reptiles do.
Myo has only seen an echidna in "the wild" once. It was crossing a gravel road in a national park in Tasmania. Myo skidded the car she was driving to a halt, jumped out of the car and chased after the echidna for a closer look and maybe take a photo. At that stage, myo discovered that echidnas can run away Very Fast. So myo never got to take a picture of it.
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See what happens when you leave a window open, and wander off looking at pictures of hedgehogs and echidnas, and then casually wander back half an hour later to finish writing up your comment?
You find that ata has slipped in a comment.
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They do indeed have powerful legs. Holding it with my hands underneath I could feel the muscles writhing like pythons as it tried to wiggle out of my grip.
Echidnas, by the way, are not very effective wigglers.
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I love echidnas. I've seen a couple in the wild, one stuck under a fence that was gently freed by a neighbour and one that was walking (or waddling) across a road near my house.
I love the way they waddle. They're just so damn cute.