Spikey’s trip to the office

When the temperature is over 40^oC the last thing you want to do is dig holes looking for ants all day in the hot sun. It’s best to find a cool place to hang out.

This must have been what Spikey, a local Short-beaked Echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus), was thinking when he wandered into Ric and Sal’s office in Flowerdale a couple of weeks ago. Ric and Sal had the door open trying to catch a breeze. Spikey initially tried to burrow in the corner, aiming for a spot in the North Atlantic just west of the Azores (no, the opposite side of the world from Flowerdale is not China!). Finding the concrete floor too much like hard yakka, Spikey did the next best thing – sat down and watched other people work.

I hope it wasn’t too much of an ant-i-climax.