02/10/2023
Echidna mating season is coming to an end - which means that many adult female echidnas will have baby puggles in their pouch 🦔!
After emerging from their leathery egg, puggles stay in their mother’s pouch for around 50 days, lapping milk from two specialised patches (echidnas don’t have teats). Echidna pouches are very shallow – unlike a macropod pouch – so puggles can easily be dislodged if the mother is injured by a car, dog, fence or during earthworks.
Once the puggle starts to grow spines, the mother will move it to a burrow and continue to feed it for up to a year. It’s important not to disturb or relocate her, as she relies on scent trails to find her way back to her baby.
If you find a healthy echidna crossing a road or backyard, please protect her and let her go on her way! If she is in danger and you need to move her a few metres, please only move her in the direction she is going. If you find an injured echidna and she has a pouch, please check the area for dislodged puggles and call us on 9291 3900 for advice on transport.
