Lucky the Echidna rescued after Mary River floods

Amid the horror stories of dead livestock and lost pets in the weekend’s devastating floods, one tiny victim’s miracle survival has provided hope. Lucky, as he was named, was waterlogged to the point where his rescuers were surprised he was alive.

When Michelle Kenzig and her family took a drive to River Heads on Saturday night to see the debris being flushed from the floods into the sea, she didn’t expect they’d be taking home a spiky passenger.

She and her husband were walking with their two daughters when the eldest saw something strange among the mess.

“She said to her dad, ‘Look, there’s an echidna over there … and it was right by the water,” Mrs Kenzig said.

Curled up in rocks, with the tide coming in and tangled in multiple weeds and branches, ‘Lucky’ as he would soon be named, was rescued.

The pads on his tiny feet had turned grey and wrinkly and he was waterlogged to the point where the family was surprised he was alive.

“My husband went and picked him up and we took him home,” she said.

Once there, Lucky was given a warm bath during which the family gently cleaned out all the sticks, weed and sand, towel dried him off and gave him some fresh water “which he loved”.

Lucky got a hot bath and all the twigs removed and a drink of fresh water before being returned to the wild.

According to Mrs Kenzig, who has a regular family of echidna visitors in her Booral yard, Lucky was calm through the night and didn’t appear frightened.

After his bath, the family released him into the bush with the rescue documented on social media where it was quickly shared in various community groups.

“Even when my husband picked him up, carefully I might add because they’re spiky, he rolled up into a ball and didn’t struggle at all,” she said.

“My eldest daughter was actually hoping we might be able to keep Lucky on the property, but because of the other echidnas on the property we thought we’d put him away from us.”

There were also reports of echidnas being rescued at properties at Bauple and Tiaro.

A Gympie Wildlife Rescue Inc representative said the group had received calls for echidnas and recommended anyone who came into contact with one to call their local wildlife carers for advice before handling the animal.

“Then, you can get a wildlife carer to come out who will then assess the animal,” she said.

A Fraser Coast Wildlife Sanctuary representative told the Gympie Times anyone who came across washed-up wildlife should contact Wildlife Rescue Fraser Coast.

“They’re generally the first point of call for any wildlife rescue or the local vets in the area take all local wildlife completely free of charge,” they said.

Wildlife Rescue Fraser Coast’s rescue hotline is 07 4121 3146 or they can be emailed on [e-mail].