Wombat
"Fluffy and Cuddly walk about the Ausssie COMBAT WOMBAT!"
Like a True Blue Sydney Aussie they are slow moving happy critters.
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Is that not just the most wonderful
name for an animal " Wombat" and it suits the animal well. There name came from the local Aboriginals Sydney's original inhabitants.
The Eora Aboriginal community.
Interestingly the birds name, emu comes from a Portuguese word 'ema', and it's meaning is 'large bird'. The male Emu stands between two and two
and half meters tall and has long powerful legs. When running will reach speeds like 50 km per hour. |
The Australian Wombats are very strong small marsupials with short stumpy legs with a small tail. They grow to about a
meter and can weigh between 20 to 35/36 kg. There are three species all looking very much alike. There coloring varies from light brown through to
black and you will find them mainly in the forests and mountains of the southern states of Australia.
Like a True Blue Aussie they are slow moving critters but do not underestimate them, if the need arises they can sprint it out and reach up to
40 km/h (25 mph) for up to 90 seconds.
Wombats can and react aggressively to intruders if they are close to their borrows. Some time they will dive down into the burrow, in which
case you should never place your face close to the opening as they are known to also have a mighty "donkey kick" or they may decide to
retaliate by rushing you in the hopes of bowling you over, then try to puncture with their teeth or rip into you with their claws, it is suggested
if you find yourself in an affray with this furry tub, simply climb a tree and wait for it to calm and leave.
They are also known for taking shortcuts, "Woops a fence" just a minor inconvenience, they just dig under or work there way through,
this is often see by the evidence they leave behind.
Wombats have very strong teeth and powerful claws this allows them to dig deep extensive burrows. The stand out with the female is she has a
BACKWARD facing pouch. The advantage being while she is digging no dirt flies into the pouch over the young. The Females have a single birth and
that comes about in Spring each year. There well developed pouch carries the young for about 6-7 months and after about 15 to 18 months they are out
on there own.
Mostly sleeping by day wombats will also venture out to feed on cool overcast days and because of this are not commonly seen, they eat a verity
of foods, roots, bark, grasses, there sharp strong incisor teeth are very adapted for ripping and tearing toughest food.
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