Wombats anyone?
 

This subject came up briefly today on another thread in our PN forum:


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and
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These two links give a story about an adopted rescued wombat, and the two children's books that resulted from the inspiring experience!

I just bought both books for us, at Amazon.... one penny each + shipping. The artwork it really fun and adorable. Books for all ages IMO and not just for children.;)

I'm glad you bought those books.

She's a very well known author here.

The illustrations are done by Bruce Whatley. He and Jackie French have collaborated on quite a number of picture books.

Jackie French also writes other books apart from children's books, including gardening books - organic, companion, self-sufficient.

I want to read her "How the Aliens from Alpha Centauri Invaded my Maths Class and Turned me into a Writer". Neat title!

She seems a very interesting woman with many talents.

I must go to the library.

there is a wonderful gal reading the Wombat book on YouTube.

It is hilarious! very droll...and we appreciate droll in this house!
I had a very good time watching this video:


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Lara, what does "cheeky" mean in this context? I looked it up online and found many meanings...mostly negative in some way.
We don't use that word here commonly.

"Cheeky" would mean mischievous. Playful and happy context. Not negative.

I thought of wombats yesterday, as our equivalent, Moe, our
resident groundhog, ran thru our yard to the back where the dandelions are blooming. Seeing him run like that was funny. They can really move when they want to! ;)
(we do not find him so funny when he eats my flowers so much though later in the year!)

We evicted him from under the house last fall, but he seems healthy and fatter this spring... must have found another home or had a second hole when we did that fix.

Just sharing since mrsD brought up groundhogs. Did you know that groundhogs can climb trees. And, yes they are fast. They can do great damage once they are under a building. We get rid of them in short order.

Oh, yes, Kitt. A friend gave me a nature book on Squirrels...and it includes other rodents. There is a photo in this book of a groundhog (marmot) climbing a tree. Granted it was a young one... not huge and porky like Moe is now. I was surprised to see that!

Yes, it is surprising to me as well. Although years ago, when I think of it, there was a groundhog, not small, that climbed up a tree in no time in our yard to get away from the dog. I was surprised for sure. They usually do not hang around when you have dogs. That's good. :winky:

Wombats are marsupials. They have a backwards pouch so that when they are digging the dirt doesn't get in the pouch onto their joey.

Sadly the Yaminon or Northern Hairy Nosed Wombat from my State is nearing extinction.

Here's another cute video.

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Baby Wombat Orphans

Thanks Lara.... I am going to watch that video as soon as
I finish typing this:


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This is a youtube showing a groundhog climbing a tree to get
some corn from a corn cob holder . (I use ours in spring to hold nesting cotton for the birds).

edit: very cute... very cheeky! ;)

Wow, that's a great video. That is not the first time that groundhog has climbed a tree!

I just learned something new this morning.

All my life I wondered what a woodchuck looked like. :confused:

I didn't know that a groundhog was a woodchuck!

Bunny jumping competition! very cute!
 

I am looking on YouTube today a bit and found this as a side subject:


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Very cute!

Too funny!


A friend of mine in the USA had a beautiful bunny rabbit. He was a lot of fun but prone to eating through computer cables. ;)

$44,000 max fine if you keep a rabbit in my State.

Wow... that is a big fine.... I know Australia had an epidemic of rabbits...so it is understandable.

I love your wombat babies in the new avatar... very cute!
I can't tell if they are wombats or koalas or whatever...but they ARE cute.

Groundhog=woodchuck=marmot All these names are used interchangeably here depending on what part of the country you are from. I've never actually seen our Moe climb a tree.
But our first experience with groundhogs was one summer when our nextdoor neighbor had a pile of wood chips delivered in the street. The very next day there were 3 baby groundhogs eating from it in the morning!

Oh yes...

That is Sky, Abinger, Bell, Elsa and Hercules. lol

They're flying foxes (or fruit bats).
Lots of people here dislike them, but I grew up in the North and they were just part of my life.
These days they carry a potentially deadly Lyssavirus so should not be handled by untrained people.

They're also implicated in the spread of another virus called Hendra.
Hendra is a weird one. It's not transmitted from the flying fox directly to humans
but appears to infect horses that have been in contact with droppings
or saliva and then the infected horses can potentially infect their human carers.

Unfortunately the extreme change in climate here has had some tragic results in recent times to all wildlife.


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Killer climate: tens of thousands of flying foxes dead in a day
February 25, 2014

Anyway, sorry about the long tangent, but when I was looking at the Victoria Wildlife site yesterday regarding the wombat orphans,
I recalled I'd saved that really cute photo from last year.

A friend of mine years ago was a carer and she looked after a baby flying fox called Edward Scissorhands
until he was old enough to be sent back to the roost.

Groundhog - woodchuck animal are the same. Here is a good site telling what else they are called.


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On the subject of wombats...

mrsD, I came across some interesting artwork.
I was actually looking for images of wombats done by Sir Joseph Banks. He was the botanist and naturalist who accompanied Captain James Cook on his voyage that included Australia back in 1770.

Instead I came across something from Tate Britain and then from The British Museum.

It appears that Rosetti kept one as a pet. :rolleyes:
He apparently described his wombat as 'a Joy, a Triumph, a Delight, a Madness'.


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William Bell Scott


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Dante Gabriel Rossetti,
Rossetti lamenting the death of his wombat,
a pen drawing
England, 1869


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"Mrs. Morris and the Wombat",
a cartoon by Rossetti

I still haven't found the Joseph Banks impression.

LOL those are great additions to this thread. My second wombat book finally arrived.

Say, is it true that they really stink, once they mature into adulthood? I read that in the Jackie French blog. That odor could certain quench any interest I would have previously had for a juvenile!

I have never detected an unpleasant odor from our resident groundhog, Moe. But then, I don't really get a chance to get close to him most of the time! ;)

lol That I do not know.

Closest I've ever been to an adult wombat is around 2 metres and that was with a fence inbetween at Australia Zoo.

I just imagine they'd have a certain smell when they're mating.

They don't see very well at all so I guess they must make up for that by smelling badly so the other wombats know where they are? :cool:

They eat grass and plants so their droppings would also have a certain smell.

Did you know, Lara, that Wombat droppings are SQUARE?

LOL yep....


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10 things to do with Wombat pooh...

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Yes, I did know that.

Neat and tidy hey? :D

LOL..... ROFLMAO.... yes very tidy, LOL

I am sitting here this morning watching the Cornell Hawk cam and our groundhog (smaller than Moe) came from the back of our yard and walked over to the Mulberry tree and climbed it!

I tried to get a photo, but as soon as I opened the front door he leaped down and ran into some bushes.

The mulberries are not ripe yet. Everything is delayed here because of the cold wet spring we had. But now I'll keep an eye out for him. I'd love to have a photo of this! ;)