Echidnas script
Echidnas
At first glance you might think that this mammal is some sort of hedgehog... or perhaps a porcupine. But actually it's weirdly different from a hedgehog, a porcupine or almost any other kind of mammal. (WHISPERS) It's an echidna… and you can tell that it's a mammal because it's got hair, and only mammals have hair. Indeed, some of its hairs have been enlarged and strengthened and have turned into big spines, which it such an effective armour. This hair helps to keep the echidna warm, making sure that it doesn't lose too much of that valuable body heat to the cold air. The fuel with which the echidna and every other mammal generates that heat is, of course, food, and on a cold winter's day like this, the echidna has to spend much of its time searching for its next meal to make sure it's fully stoked up. Although echidnas have good eyesight and excellent hearing, it's their sense of smell which guides them to food. They sniff out insects and grubs, then get at them by ripping open the nests and tunnels with their immensely strong claws. That beak-like snout pokes into holes, and then out comes a long sticky tongue, that flicks into cracks and crevices to lick up whatever's worth eating. Echidnas are particularly fond of ants and termites, and will even climb trees to find them. This particular female has an unusually healthy appetite because she's about to breed. And the way she does so is the reason why the echidna is such a truly weird mammal. The echidna doesn't give birth to live babies, she lays an egg. It's hidden in her fur in a shallow depression on her underside. It's no bigger than a marble. Inside it, a young echidna is slowly developing. After her baby hatches, she carries it around on her underside for about 50 days, until it begins to develop spines. She then deposits it in a burrow, where it stays and grows for nearly seven months. But how does she feed it during this long time?
At first glance you might think that this mammal is some sort of hedgehog... or perhaps a porcupine. But actually it's weirdly different from a hedgehog, a porcupine or almost any other kind of mammal. (WHISPERS) It's an echidna… and you can tell that it's a mammal because it's got hair, and only mammals have hair. Indeed, some of its hairs have been enlarged and strengthened and have turned into big spines, which it such an effective armour. This hair helps to keep the echidna warm, making sure that it doesn't lose too much of that valuable body heat to the cold air. The fuel with which the echidna and every other mammal generates that heat is, of course, food, and on a cold winter's day like this, the echidna has to spend much of its time searching for its next meal to make sure it's fully stoked up. Although echidnas have good eyesight and excellent hearing, it's their sense of smell which guides them to food. They sniff out insects and grubs, then get at them by ripping open the nests and tunnels with their immensely strong claws. That beak-like snout pokes into holes, and then out comes a long sticky tongue, that flicks into cracks and crevices to lick up whatever's worth eating. Echidnas are particularly fond of ants and termites, and will even climb trees to find them. This particular female has an unusually healthy appetite because she's about to breed. And the way she does so is the reason why the echidna is such a truly weird mammal. The echidna doesn't give birth to live babies, she lays an egg. It's hidden in her fur in a shallow depression on her underside. It's no bigger than a marble. Inside it, a young echidna is slowly developing. After her baby hatches, she carries it around on her underside for about 50 days, until it begins to develop spines. She then deposits it in a burrow, where it stays and grows for nearly seven months. But how does she feed it during this long time?
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