By Shelby Brooks
For three decades, Upper Beaconsfield has been home to a rare echidna.
Nicknamed ‘Blondie’, the monotreme has albinism, an inherited disorder that results in little or no production of the pigment melanin, which determines the colour of the skin, hair and eyes.
Suggestive of their name, Blondie has white fur and quills rather than the usual brown.
Blondie is often seen on Upper Beaconsfield resident Harry Jensen’s property.
He leaves a lot of his land as natural bushland for wildlife.
“I can’t say we saw Blondie when we first moved to Upper Beaconsfield in the late 1980s, but not long after that we began to notice this little thing running around the property,” he said.
“It has gradually grown over the years and has often visited our garden around the house.
“We also don’t have dogs or cats which would either attack or scare echidnas and other wildlife away.“
Moonlit Sanctuary owner and founder Michael Johnson said albino echidnas were rare.
“Albinos can be found in many species however in most cases in the wild are easily picked off by predators when young,” he said.
“Because echidnas defence is to dig into the ground and protect themselves with their spines they are less vulnerable to predators. In addition they can live to 40 years or more. For these reasons we hear of albino echidnas more often.
“However they are not common, I have not heard of more than three or four in my lifetime.”
Mr Jensen is concerned reckless drivers in the area could lead to Blondie being killed.
“I’ve been asking Cardinia Shire Council road engineers to put up slow down wildlife crossing signs and to lower the speed limit on sections of our dirt roads which are known wildlife crossing points in the shire,” he said.
“We unfortunately have a number of speeding drivers around here so it’s no wonder animals get run over or injured. It’s just thoughtless of them.
“I posted a video of Blondie on local Facebook pages because I thought it would be great for people to see how wonderful these animals are and bring awareness to drive more carefully and be on the lookout for them.
“It would be a real loss to lose Blondie.”
A Cardinia Shire spokesperson said the speed limit on O’Neil Road in Upper Beaconsfield is sign posted at 60 kilometres per hour.
“The speed limit on Telegraph Road varies. Part of Telegraph Road is sign posted at 60 kilometres per hour and part defaults to 100 kilometres per hour. The change from 60 kilometres to 100 kilometres is located to the northeast of O’Neil Road,” they said.
“At the moment, there are no wildlife warning signs on these roads. The council has also not received any recent requests for wildlife warning signs in either O’Neil Road or Telegraph Road, Upper Beaconsfield.”
