In exciting news for people who love animals, people who love Australia, or people who just love strange looking creatures with funny names, Sydney’s Taronga Zoo have announced that they’re now looking after a 40 day old puggle (that’s zootalk for ‘baby Echidna’ to you and me). Its name is Beau and it was found in a caravan park on the central coast. Presumably not on a surfing holiday, given Beau’s tender age.
Although, Beau might have been relishing an early taste of freedom – in what seems to me like a pretty severe form of grounding, adult female Echidnas generally “stash their young in a burrow from about 50 days old”, according to experts from the Zoo. And they don’t let them out for months. Although, they do home deliver food to their puggles, so that’s a plus.
And while we won’t know whether it’s Mr Beau or Miss Beau for some months yet, we do know that young Beau has a healthy appetite – according to the Zoo, “Beau resembles a mini vacuum cleaner, going back and forth making sure every drop of milk is sucked up – contributing to its ever growing belly”. You go, Beau.
So, there you go. A little story about Beau – from a trailer park on the central coast to a prime harbourside pad in Sydney, without the constraints of gender or hair. Good luck to you, pretty puggle.
You can check out more photos and videos of Beau on the Taronga Zoo website here.
everydaysparks 
Beau is very cute! Love a happy story!
So cute and so tiny! Much friendlier looking without all the spikes too, BCD! 🙂
Awe and wonder! Go pretty puggle!
Isn’t he/she so lovely, Immy? A bit of an Aussie post for you over in the UK! 🙂
Too bloomin cute. I hope The home delivery dinners took the form of a cheese and pineapple hedgehog – example attached for non-Brits: http://www.google.com.au/search?q=pineapple+and+cheese+hedgehog&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari#biv=i|2;d|5PixDI0PtSts0M:
Firstly, great name today – welcome back! I have clicked on that link (with some trepidation, I might add) and found the cheese and pineapple hedgehog to be a fairly frightening prospect. British cuisine has thankfully come a long way! 🙂
Sooo cute! I want to visit him/her!
Me too, Jen! Wonder when they’ll put him/her on show – probs not for a while, I guess. But hopefully we can see him/her before the spikes start growing! 🙂
Beau looks so helpless without his/her quills for protection… 🙂
Quills! As I wrote ‘spikes’, I knew it wasn’t right – thanks, TSL! 🙂