An echidna is rescued after floating in a lake 70metres from the shore at Bonnie Doon near Melbourne

Australia
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Watch the moment an exhausted echidna is rescued after a wakeboarder found him floating in a lake 70 meters from shore

  • An exhausted echidna was rescued from a Melbourne lake
  • The mammal was 70 meters off the coast of Bonnie Doon.
  • Brendan Paterson saved him by placing him on his wakeboard

By Jade Hobman for Daily Mail Australia

Published: | Updated:

An echidna has been rescued after it was found struggling to stay afloat in the middle of a lake 70 meters from the shore.

Wakeboarder Brendan Paterson found the exhausted mammal while the surfer was with his family at Lake Eildon in Bonnie Doon, northeast of Melbourne.

The sight of Mr. Paterson pulling the spiny anteater out of the water and placing it on his board was posted on social media Tuesday.

Wakeboarder Brendan Paterson found the exhausted echidna (pictured) while the surfer was with his family at Lake Eildon in Bonnie Doon, northeast of Melbourne.

It showed the echidna sitting on the dashboard after Paterson jumped into the water, as his family watched from a nearby boat.

The rescuer then guided his board with the animal toward shore, and the tired-looking mammal scrambled back onto dry land.

Paterson said 3AW when he first saw it he thought it was a different animal.

“I saw what I thought was a tortoise struggling upside down, but when I got closer I realized it was an echidna,” Paterson said Tuesday.

The rescuer then guided his board with the animal onto dry land (pictured)

The rescuer then guided his board with the animal onto dry land (pictured)

The sight of Mr. Paterson pulling the spiny anteater out of the water and placing it on his board was posted on social media Tuesday (pictured).

The sight of Mr. Paterson pulling the spiny anteater out of the water and placing it on his board was posted on social media Tuesday (pictured).

The rescuer then guided his board with the animal toward shore, where the tired-looking mammal scrambled back onto dry land.

The rescuer then guided his board with the animal toward shore, where the tired-looking mammal scrambled back onto dry land.

‘He took a big breath [after it got onto the board]. We sailed a bit and I made sure he got some rest.

We were a good 70 meters on each side [of the shore]- He had probably gone a little further than necessary… it was an echidna that couldn’t swim, it was definitely struggling.’

Echidnas can paddle across small distances like streams and dams, but it’s unusual to see them in the middle of a large lake, he said.

A social media commenter joked about the echidna’s journey.

‘I hope it didn’t take you back to the same side you started from! Great job!’

A similar rescue was carried out and posted on social media this month when a Queensland woman pulled an echidna out of her pool after finding it tottering.

The distinctive Australian creature crossed the pool fence and fell into the water on Shan Croc’s property in the rural town of Muckadilla.

Echidnas (pictured) can swim across small distances such as streams and dams, but it's unusual to see them in the middle of a large lake, Paterson said.

Echidnas (pictured) can swim across small distances such as streams and dams, but it’s unusual to see them in the middle of a large lake, Paterson said.

Echidna (Tachyglossus Aculeatus)

The echidna uses all four legs to dig.

When the animal is disturbed or threatened, it either rolls up into a ball or buries itself in the ground so that only its spines are exposed.

A baby echidna is called a ‘puggle’.

The short-beaked echidna appears in Australian item 5c.

Usually found in open heaths, woodlands, woods, bushes and grasslands, among vegetation or in hollow logs.

The echidna ranges from 35 to 52 cm in length. It can weigh up to 6 kg, but females are usually smaller than males.

Echidnas feed primarily on ants and termites, although they have been known to eat other invertebrates.

The echidna’s snout is 7–8 cm long and is used to rummage through rotting logs and termite mounds that have been broken by the echidna’s feet.

The mouth is placed just at the end of the snout.

The mammal’s tongue is very long and sticky, allowing it to collect large numbers of ants and termites when it feeds.

The spines on the back of echidnas are modified hairs that range in color from cream to black. Its spines can reach up to 50 mm in length.

In bad weather they often take shelter under bushes or bury themselves in the ground.

Source: Victoria Wildlife

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