When frightened it will curl into a ball, with its snout and legs tucked beneath it and its sharp spines sticking out. It will wedge itself beneath rocks, or burrow straight down into soft soil, to escape predators such as dogs, eagles and dingos. Like the platypus, the male echidna has a hollow spur on its back leg. While a male platypus can use this spur to inject poision into would-be attackers, echidnas do not have this ability. Eating habits With a keen sense of smell, an echidna uses its long, hairless snout to search for food, detect danger and locate other echidnas.
Termites are the preferred food, which is why the animal is often called the 'spiny anteater'.
After finding food, an echidna catches the prey with its long, sticky tongue. Because it has no teeth, it grinds its food between its tongue and the bottom of its mouth. In warm areas, echidnas feed during the cooler morning and evening hours, and sleep during the heat of the day. In southern Australia, they often stop eating during the colder months and then eat large amounts during spring. Breeding Being monotremes, echidnas produce young from eggs which are hatched outside their body, in the same way as birds and most reptiles.