We live in the Australian countryside, and we're used to seeing a number of indigenous animals, notably kangaroos, but on 6 November 2008 I was rather surprised when this animal walked past our kitchen door:

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It's an echidna, one of only two representatives of the Monotremata order of mammals (the other is the platypus). It burrowed through a fair-sized hole and disappeared under the house. So far I thought we only had a stray cat there, but maybe the echidna lives there too.