Close Encounters of the Echidna Kind

Koala in the gum tree near our back door

An abundance of wildlife surrounds us at home. At any time we may see koalas or kangaroos passing by or hanging around, and possums are constant nocturnal visitors.

Ring-tail possum on our verandah

Bird-life abounds also. Parrots, magpies, currawongs, finches, pardalotes, honeyeaters and tiny wrens are regulars in our garden, and high overhead huge wedge-tail eagles often pass through, soaring on the updrafts, along the western side of 'our' valley.

Delightful wildlife surprises await us each day, but none more delightful or unexpected than the spiky little character who decided to grace us with his/her presence for the first time last week, and then again yesterday - an echidna! I will call him Spike.

 

First Encounter

Mission accomplished

Upon returning home late last Tuesday afternoon, I was greeted by two excited grandchildren and one grinning husband, and was escorted into the garden. They pointed to a spiky ball, digging furiously in the soil. Spike the Echidna was valiantly digging to protect his soft underbelly by burying himself so that only his spikes showed,

Let me out of here!

They had first noticed the echidna waddling along our open verandah, and Martin rescued Spike just before he became entangled in some 'stuff' on the verandah.

Beren and Spike

Escape!

The dig-in begins

Martin released Spike onto the grass, and he immediately took off at high speed, ending up underneath a shrub, where he began digging his way to safety.  He stayed there until later that evening, before moving on to hide-outs unknown.

 

Yesterday's Amazing Encounter

While out and about yesterday I received an SMS from Martin, telling me that Spike had reappeared on the verandah again. He (Martin) was in a hurry to answer the phone when he saw Spike, and then needed to get back to the shed quickly, so he raced out of the back door,  jumped over Spike and kept going, forgetting all about him.

I returned home later in the afternoon, and headed indoors with my purchases. On entering the kitchen I heard what sounded like the faint whining of a dog, but couldn't work out where it was coming from. The sound was fainter near the back door, but seemed clearer when I moved toward the kitchen bench. A small step ladder stands at the end of the bench, and I glanced down at it as I approached. To my utter surprise, there, on the floor and under the ladder, was Spike! He was vainly trying to dig himself into the bench, and was whining pitifully, poor darling!

Spike - underneath the step-ladder

I quickly called out to Martin (in the shed), who came to rescue Spike. We deduced that Spike must have wandered in through the back door which Martin had left open in his hurry to get to the shed.

You may notice that Spike looks rather cobwebby. I think he must have found his way underneath some cupboards during his indoor internment, thus exposing my poor under-cupboard housekeeping.

Leave me alone!

It's OK, little fella!

What an amazing little creature!

After taking these pictures, we took Spike out into the fading light of the early evening, and set him free underneath an inviting tree. He immediately began digging himself in, none the worse for his adventure. I'll keep you posted, should he return again!

Ah, freedom at last!

If you want to know more about these amazing Australian mammals, visit http://www.australian-wildlife.com/Echidna-information.html

Bearen's big adventure

Dear Nana Kayzy,

This is your Bearen writing to you.

I have been on a big adventure, and 'cause you made me and you love me, I know you're interested in everything I do, so I want to tell you all about it.

Well, first Granny Wellby drove us to Adelaide airport, with Bruce as her navigator. (Bruce decided not to come with us to Melbourne. He said Granny Wellby would need his company while we were away.)

Then I hid in Mum's hand luggage - I didn't want to be cooped up in a suitcase with Mum's clothes, and miss all the fun.

 Soon we got on the plane and WHOOSH - before we knew it we were flying - WHEE! I saw lots of things out of the window for awhile,



but then we were too high to see the ground - above the clouds!

When we got to Melbourne, Mum and Dad took me to a big hotel, and I could see the big city out of our window.

We did lots of exciting things in Melbourne, but one of the best was eating at a big restaurant - all that food, and such a little tummy (Bruce would have been able to fit more in, I'm sure).

I had such a great time, and so when we got home to Bunbury Cottage, everyone gathered around to hear about my BIG ADVENTURE, and my story was so exciting they said it was just like being there!

Big hugs to you, dear Nana,
from me, Bearen xxxx

KOALA VISITATION

A funny, wonderful thing happened to me the other day  . . .

I came home for lunch, and noticed that a branch had fallen from the small gum tree near our back door.

Upon investigating, to my joy I discovered a small koala sitting in the middle of the tree, about 5 feet off the ground. Martin regularly cuts the tree down to this height to clear the fire sprinkler near it, but  new growth reshoots from the stump, and is quite lush and thick. My koala was sitting on this stump, and very comfy and well fed he looked, too!

To my immense pleasure and shutterbugging delight, the little fellow stayed all day, and was still there when I went to bed that night.

 Of course he had moved on to greener gum trees by morning, However, I look forward to his next visit. I wouldn't be surprised if he were the same little fellow who visited us late last year  (see Koala Capers).

KOALA CAPERS

In earlier posts I have mentioned that we have the privilege of living in a rural setting, surrounded by tall gum trees. These gums are a great attraction to the local koalas, and we often see them or hear them growling nearby. When this happens I race out with my camera and try to capture them, as in these pictures.

However, over the last month we have come across them in a few different locations, and I managed to catch these on camera too.

ENCOUNTER 1
We were driving up our track (which is 1km long) to get to the public road.  Suddenly, ahead of us a koala appeared and ran across the track. Martin stopped the car and I followed the little chap, who wasn't terribly cooperative about having his picture taken, but nonetheless I got this one.

ENCOUNTER 2
We started on our way again, but only about 20 metres further up the track on the left bank sat another koala.

This koala was one of the prettiest I have seen, beautifully marked, and with no visible battle scars, and he/she was very happy to pose for me.

About 2 hours later, on our return home, this koala was still in the same area, but this time was not so sociable and climbed up the nearest tree to escape this nosy human.

ENCOUNTER 3

 Our third koala encounter was last weekend, when I was heading down to our vegie patch. Imagine my surprise when I came across this little fellow - a juvenile - on the ground near our house fence.


He was intent on getting over the fence but was thwarted by the barbed wire on the top.

Martin took charge of the camera, and I tried to guide him to a safe area without success. I even tried to lean logs against the fence so that he could climb to safety, but to no avail. He was not impressed with my attempts to help.

Finally he decided to give up this method of escape, and climbed one of our trees. Thankfully, when I checked later he was nowhere to be found, so obviously he had worked something out!