Day 3: The Thorny Devil

I was just taking another walk, when suddenly, out of nowhere, I saw another animal.  First, I had thought it was a spiky rock!  I took it back to camp and my friends and I studied it.  Its body has conical spines all over, including spines above each eye and a hump behind its head which is spiny. The color on its body changes from yellow, to reddish brown, to black, depending on which type of soil it is crossing.  This feature helps it camoflauge.  It is a heliotherm, which means that it needs sunlight to warm itself up.  They can grow up to 20 cm and they are very slow.  They lay about 3 to 10 eggs underground, between September and January.  Then, the eggs hatch 3 to 4 months later.  Their life span is 20 years.  It has many adaptations and defenses.  Its movement is very slow and looks like a leaf, and it often freezes (stops moving) instinctively.  It is a very harmless reptile.  It can change colors to match environment. It hides in small shrubs to protect itself.  Also, if a predator tries to flip it over, it puts its spine and curved tail against the ground to prevent it from falling over.  They also have the ability to puff themselves up like a ball, which makes them look bigger.  This can intimidate their enemies.  It usually eats ants, and whenever it does, it eats about 600 to 3000 of them in a single meal!  Although they can only eat one ant at a time with their sticky tongue, they can still eat at a rate of up to 45 ants a minute.  They live in arid scrubs and spinifex (grassy bushes).  When it goes to sleep at night, it digs up the soil and covers itself with it to stay warmer during freezing cold nights.  It also sometimes digs underground burrows (sometimes under scrubs) to provide protection from the intense heat.  Sadly, this creature isn’t as fortunate as the sidewinder snake.  It is endangered.  People have been trying to save the Thorny Devil's nests and eggs by placing wire enclosures around them.  This way, predators can’t disturb the nest and the eggs are be safe.  Its hunters are humans, bustards (a type of bird), and others.

-Kiran