An echidna is an Australian anteater.

It is an egg laying marsupial called a monotreme.

An echidna is about 50 cm (20 inches) long and it is dome-shaped. It has short sharp spikes covering its body (like a porcupine). It has a short pointy snout and a sticky tongue with which it catches ants and termites. It has no teeth. The echidna has very sharp claws too and can burrow underground very quickly. An echidna has short stubby feet and waddles when it walks.

When it gets frightened it raises its spikes to defend itself and tries to dig itself into the ground.

You can see how the echidna is trying to hide in my pic.

My dog Sage once tried to catch an Echidna and hurt his tongue.

Here some other sites about the Echidna

On the Ground Echidnas
Echidnas