Adventurous echidna returned to safety

AN OCEAN Grove tradie has helped return a small echidna back to its home after it crawled across multiple busy roads and burrowed in a neighbour’s backyard.

Johl Hodges rushed into action after his wife spotted an echidna burrowing in a distressed fashion in neighbour David Collins’ yard last week.

Concerned about the small animal’s wellbeing and the impending danger of nearby traffic and dogs, Mr Hodges spent three quarters of an hour gently digging around the echidna with his hands.

The animal was then popped into a shoebox and taken to Ocean Grove Nature Reserve to reunite with its species.

Mr Hodges said he was glad to return the animal to safety.

“My wife just spotted it scattering across the road in the late afternoon, and it had then moved into David’s yard and just started burrowing as hard as it could.

“I pretty quickly realised he was pretty far from home at the Nature Reserve. It’s the third one I’ve seen lately!

“I’ve never picked up an echidna before or done something like it. If it wasn’t for David getting me the gardening gloves, I would have had no chance at helping the little guy.”

Mr Collins said the echidna encounter made for an eventful end to the day.

“We’ve got a couple of kids in the house and as we were shutting down the house for the night, Johl turned up and told us what was going on!

“I went out to help him out and assist him as I could, and we had some towels out and some gloves to handle the echidna.

“Three quarters of an hour later, the animal was good as gold and returned home safely.”

Both local residents urged road users to be vigilant of echidnas and keep an eye out for the animals as they “head out on their escape artist route”.

If you see an echidna in distress, phone a local wildlife agency.