Would you snuggle with a puggle?

Would you snuggle with a puggle?

Oct. 25, 2012 at 6:30 AM
Mish Whalen

Ben Gibson / Taronga Zoo

Is it a bald penguin? A hedgehog?

It's actually an echidna puggle — and it's really cute. Echidnas, also known as spiny anteaters, are egg-laying mammals that live in Australia and New Guinea.

This 40-day-old baby, named Beau, lives at the Taronga Wildlife Hospital in Australia, and was discovered on a path in an RV park.

Puggles are rarely seen at this age because moms stash their young in burrows. The puggle remains in the burrow for many months. The mom goes out to feed, and returns every few days to feed it milk.

Echidnas, like platypuses, have patches that excrete milk for their young to lap up. Beau's human surrogate puts milk in the palm of her hand, and Beau feeds like a mini vacuum cleaner.

Beau's gender can't be determined for a while, as baby puggles of either sex have no identifiable features. In time, Beau will develop quills (here's what a grown echidna looks like) but for now, there's only a rough layer of hair that the nurses call a "five o clock shadow."

Watch the sweetest video clip of Beau's nurse, Annabelle, feeding the little one. And learn more about Beau at the Taronga Conservation Society's blog.

PUGGLE MISCELLANY 

Yes, there is a pattern for a crocheted mother echidna and puggle, and I'm not going to get one.

Upside-down echidna.

Puggle hatching (bring me the sick-pail).

Puggles vs. tardigrades. They're almost the same thing, but one is smaller. The smaller one is better, and I'll tell you why.

TARDIGRADIA

There are tardigrade stuffed animals. There are no puggle stuffed animals, 

or none worth bothering about.

Tardigrades don't have brains. Why have one if you don't need it?

Tardigrades kick ass. They take over countries and rule the world. Puggles don't.

TARDIGRADES DON'T CARE.

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