Puggle to Echidna
Egg shelter ruptured
exposing nubble,
putty smooth, pink
vulnerable puggle.
Tiny claws and snout,
hurry up, we’re waiting,
for spines to emerge,
prickly armour-plating.
The spiny covered puggle
is now called an echidna,
a coat so very sharpish
their habits – an enigma.
Naive predators approach,
they haven’t got a clue,
piercing of a probing nose
will change their point of view.
A puggle is a hapless morsel,
tasty dingo meal;
huddling echidna in a ball –
that’s no real meal appeal!
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Photo: Short beaked echidna spiny anteater tachyglossus aculeatus by Allan Whittome (public domain photo)
Note: A puggle is a baby monotreme (echidna or platypus)
Gabe Feathers McGee 
Cute. I never thought I’d read something that rhymed with echidna …plainly I need to think more 😉
It doesn’t pass the perfect rhyme test but I don’t care – apparently one must use perfect rhymes for children (don’t know if I agree with that rule 😉 so I will ignore it. Thanks Geo 🙂 hahaha (been trying to think of a nickname for you since you said Staffo ‘sounds vaguely clinical’) – or maybe Freo (Jaffa also springs to mind) … I could continue 🙂
Seeing I was mentioned, I feel invited to enter this discussion. Geoff should always be called Geoffrey, as in ‘wash your hands Geoffrey!’ However, an Aussie might just call a Geoff ‘Treble’, as in treble clef, but so would a Cockney.
haha – or knowing that Aussies usually focus on last names and Geoffrey’s last name is Dunn – well the obvious choice is Dunny or Crocodile Dunnee 🙂
It was certainly Dunny at primary school and I sooo remember those nasal strine Solvol ads … remarkable how accurately children can mimic the cadence and inflection of a media campaign!
I’ll just call your Geoffrey, Geoffrey (well not two Geoffreys, but you know what I mean – haha) 🙂
Excellent. Much more attractive with its spines in place, though.
hahaha – I don’t know Martin, the little puggle is so cute.
clever poem!
Thanks Juliet 🙂
‘nubble’, puggle’ – I LOVE Australian!
Bwahahahaha – thank you Tilly 🙂
Bless its little puggleness – the adult version is definitely more attractive!
Anna :o]
But the puggle would be much nicer to pick up Anna 🙂
I can’t argue with that!
Anna :o]
Ahhhhhhhhh! He soooo cute! And I love the poem. It captures the beautiful innocence of all young, brand new things. Very tender, very lovely poem.
Thank you Aletha – they make ’em cute so the parents go Ahhhhhh and want to look after them 😉
I just love the word puggle… and such gorgeous little creatures. Great write Gabe!
The word puggle is wonderful Graham, I agree – suits the puggle perfectly 🙂 Thanks Graham 🙂
Only a mother could love that puggle – this is a marvellous educational poem, Gabe. I didn’t know the babies were called puggles (what kind of Australian am I?! :)) I’ve only ever seen the adults – do the puggles’ spines appear slowly or overnight?
Thanks bb – I didn’t know much about them either – haha – scientists don’t even know much about them (hence the enigma). They come out of a leathery egg and stay in a fake pouch that both males and females have (slurping up milk that oozes out of the echidnas skin rather than nipples), and after about 2 months the spines start to emerge and the parents leave them under shrubs and leaves, coming back to feed them until they are spiny enough and old enough to feed for themselves.
Oh! And there you go, adding to my experience once more. A Puggle. I had never even dreamt that a puggle even existed and there it is. Poetry fodder indeed.
The name Puggle just cries out for a poem 🙂 Thanks Kate
What strange little creatures…as I said before…you have a most interesting yard. 🙂 Quite enjoyed the poem.
SInce I moved here 5 years ago, I can’t imagine living in a place that has no interesting wildlife! Thanks Charles 🙂
I’m sure a critter only a mother could adore and love. They do look rather prickly.
Prickly but very cute Renee 🙂
Baby echidnas are cute and the adults are too if one ever gets to really see one.
This poem is so good, it belongs in a children’s book of animals, difficult rhymes notwithstanding!.
I think the babies and adults are both adorable – we had the adult echidna near our back yard and I couldn’t believe how cute it was (not what I thought echidnas would be like at all). Thanks Stafford about the poem – I’d like to do a children’s collection one day – aus wildlife is not a bad idea – I could put a bit more effort into the photos!
I feel bad that I didn’t even know they were called puggles. How hopeless am I? How odd it must be to be born without spines and then to have them grow. Must be a weird sensation. I love your poem so much. It is very cute just like an echidna. Awwww.
I think the puggle word is an official secret Selma (maybe not even a scientific word – but still used by wildlife carers and the like 🙂 ) thankyou ps. not sure if you can feel a spine growing (does sound slighly icky).