March 25th, 2026Hepburn Wildlife News
In December I wrote about a puggle (baby echidna) named Pickle, who had been brought to the wildlife shelter after its mother had been fatally injured by earthmoving machinery.
Pickle the little puggle is doing well and now has fur covering her body and is starting to develop spines. She is still entirely reliant on milk. At this stage of a puggle’s life its mother would feed it on milk from the milk patch which she has on her underside.
As mentioned earlier, (The Local Issue 348) echidnas don’t have nipples or teats but exude milk from a specific patch of pores. The baby echidna will lick and suck on this patch to fed. After the mother has fed the puggle she will seal it into the den in her burrow and go off to forage for food for herself.
The puggle will be left alone in the burrow for three or more days, where it will sleep until its mother returns. The fur it has started to grow will protect it from damp and cold.
So, if you see an echidna out and about it is best not to interfere with its movement, except of course to move it off the road. The echidna could have a puggle in a burrow awaiting its mother’s return and if its mother does not return it will most likely starve to death.
There aren’t many natural predators of echidnas, but our pets are a potential danger to these baby animals. A puggle is very vulnerable to attack by cats and dogs and disturbance of the burrow by people is also often deadly. Consequently, there is a high death rate in puggles. If you should come across a puggle in a sealed burrow, don’t disturb it, leave it there.
If you should find a young echidna with no spines call the Hepburn Wildlife Shelter. Do not apply heat to the animal, this will likely kill it. Puggles are very different to other animals and the best thing to do if you find one is to just wrap it in a towel and put it in a small open Esky somewhere quiet until you find help. It is very important not to handle these animals as the stress can kill them.
Pickle, the little puggle at the Hepburn Wildlife Shelter, spends most of her time sleeping. She wakes to feed every three days, and because of the slow nature of the feeding process it takes at least two hours for Gayle Chappell to feed her. She is then returned to her sleeping quarters. She will continue to be fed milk for at least another three months.
Dr Marita McGuirk is a field ecologist and environmental scientist, and a volunteer at the Hepburn Wildlife Shelter. Marita writes monthly columns about the shelter and the animals it cares for. If you would like to donate or volunteer, or just to find out more information, head to www.hepburnwildlifeshelter.org
