#monotremata

Western long-beaked echidna Zaglossus bruijni

The western long-beaked echidna is the largest of the monotremes.

Blowing bubbles is a great summer pastime, especially for echidnas! Too keep themselves cool, short-beaked echidnas blow snot bubbles, and the mucus wets their snouts. When it the mucus evaporates the moisture draws out heat-- an efficient cooling method known as evaporative cooling.

Fat Echidna found on Woppa (they do inhabit the island as well as the mainland).

Sadly, while driving to Yeppoon, we saw a lot of dead echidnas on the road... The highway is frequently covered in native animal roadkill. At least on Woppa, there's little chance of an echidna being runover.

BTW, despite looking like hedgehogs, they're very much unrelated. Echidnas are their own thing (closely related to the platypus).

Eastern long-beaked echidna Zaglossus bartoni

The eastern long-beaked echidna's range includes the central highlands of Papua New Guinea and Indonesia