Young echidna rescued after getting stuck in wellington boot

A young echidna was rescued from a prickly situation near Darwin in Australia ­on Friday morning. Veterinarian Stephen Cutter, from the Ark Animal Hospital, said the juvenile monotreme decided to take shelter in a big, black wellington boot.



“Going in was easy but because of his spines, he couldn’t get back out,” Dr Cutter said. Luckily the owner of the gumboot was alerted to the plight of the prickly stowaway when his dogs started barking at the welly. “He looked in the boot and just saw spines,” Dr Cutter said.

The good Samaritan took the boot-and-echidna combo into the Ark where the rubber footwear was X-rayed to determine how stuck the echidna was. “He was very thoroughly wedged in the gumboot so we had to cut the boot to get him out,” Dr Cutter said.



“When echidnas get stressed they roll into a ball which wedged this guy further into the boot.” Once released from his rubber cage, the 3kg male was given a check-up and deemed healthy. “We’ll release him near where he was found – away from the dogs,” Dr Cutter said.