This is one of my most recent hand embroideries. I've seen echidnas in the wild a few times both on our family sheep station and elsewhere around Australia, including once saving one from a busy highway in Tasmania. The photos above are from my last trip to the Adelaide Zoo at the end of last year. I saw 4 very busy echidnas snuffling around their enclosure. Over a year ago I was walking with my brothers and several dogs on our sheep station and I heard my dog Tiggy doing excited barking just over the sandhill. (You know the kind of barking dogs do when they are trying to pretend they're very brave and ferocious but are actually rather scared.) I was worried she'd found a snake so I ran over and it was actually a poor little echidna digging itself a hole to hide in so just it's spines were sticking out. Tiggy's eyes were bugging out as she was trying to figure out what this strange creature was. We all had a look at the echidna, without touching it or scaring it further and then went on our way, leaving it in peace. Echidnas represent safety and protection to me, and they remind us to keep grounded, close to the earth.
No comments:
Post a Comment