Australia's UNIQUE Animals
Written: Nov 24 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Unique, usually friendly
Cons: none
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| SMITHSWOODSIDE's Full Review: Australia |
A true but slightly irreverent view of some of the unique Australian animals available to tourists
International key
Japanese - kalangadoo
American - kaaaaangaaaaroooooooooooooooooooooooo
Latin - hippus hoppus
Latin - Wombatus dirtus nosus
German -voombaat
Nobody knows how many kangaroos there are in Australia. This is despite having an official Kangaroo Counter. Everytime the kangaroo counter gets a bit over two hundred million, one of them moves and he has to start again. Thats his story anyway.
Everyone seems to know what a kangaroo is and therefore lets look at some of the unusual, rather than the usual.
I have'nt heard of a kangaroo attack for a some time - it is pretty rare but does happen.
The last one I recall was a semi/tractor trailer driver who came out of a shop to get in his rig only to see a "big red" standing by the rig door. Some idiot bystander threw a rock at the Kangaroo hitting it trying to frighten it away. 3 rocks, 3 hits later the roo hadn't moved but was just obviously angry. The "brilliant" rig driver, IQ 2, finds a stick six feet long and threateans the roo with it - roo stands still. Then the fool truck driver hits the roo over the back with the stick but didn't realise it was rotten in the middle, so it just broke.
The "big red"IQ 202, is really annoyed now - He hops up to the driver and kills him outright in a split second - this was witnessed by a crowd of about a dozen people that had gathered. For a Big Red Kangaroo killing another, or a human is easy. They simply grab the victim around the neck with their paws, sit on their tail, and disembowel the victim with their back extremely long and powerful legs. They are often employed in abbatoirs. If the person gets the opportunity to run, which is most unlikely, they have no hope - big reds hop at about 65 mph and all they do is get slightly in front then use their tail to break the legs of the victim. They finish them of by tearing at their throat with the front paws. Despite a "Big Reds" speed, unlike cars paw wear does not appear to be a problem.
Attacks such as this are very rare - most people wouldn't "take -on" a big red anyway - they are taller than us, around seven feet - even taller when raised on their legs or tails. They are not savage, but won't usually be threatened either. Its a wonder there aren't more "events" because they are very common but then again a 7 foot roo is just a little intimidating. One can stand by my car door as long as it wants! All the other types of kangaroo are much smaller, including the ones in zoos people are allowed to pat etc. - big reds are too dangerous for that job.
Once we had a big red in our back yard - only a year or so back. We think it came from a bushland reserve nearby- it was only maybe two thirds grown and got disoriented amongst all the household fences.
It had been up and down our street several times. Where are the police when we want them - this roo was breaking the 35 mph speed limit regularly, and got away with it!
Anyway it finished up in our back yard a couple of times, possibly because immediately behind us are open fields/paddocks (whatever you call them) with about 70 cattle. Our back fence is just an ordinary ranch wire type. A fully grown big red would have gone straight through it or usually over it. This roo could easilly have jumped it but being young it was just confused and scared. Even though he was as tall as me (6 feet) sitting down on his back legs, his body was still developing so I managed to quieten it down and even pat it on the head - just as I was gaining it's trust one of the cattle nearby with a death wish gave an almighty bellow - the "little"big red jumped up and thank heavens there was a decent gap between me and the fence which he went straight through. The power I felt in that baby roo was absolutely awseome. About four giant hops and he had gone the full distance of the width of our back yard and out out sight around the house - thats about 35 yards.
Unfortunately I wasn't able to identify that blasted cow - I just take solice in the fact it's now hamburger meat.
Everyone outside of Australia seems to know something about Koalas and Kangaroos, but very few seem to know about Wombats, and yet they are much more common than Koalas and I think more interesting. They can be held and cuddled (careful they don't chew your face off), and keep their "wheels" off the ground or there's no holding them!
They are found in most parts of Australia. They are related to the Koala and both come from a prehistoric animal. Instead of living in trees, wombats live under the ground.
They are the biggest burrowing creatures in the world, except for me. They dig huge and complicated tunnels around ten feet deep.
The safest way to catch one is to shoot just over their heads(get your mate to stand elsewhere) and at the same time shine a light in their eyes. That disorients them so somebody can come up and put a net over them quietly so there's no harm.
Some of their burrows are 50 or 60 years old and they pass them on to other Wombats. A fully grown wombat weighs about fifty pounds, sometimes more and the tunnels they dig are about the same size as they are. They eat grass but spend 80% of their time underground resting. Appealing isn't it.
If you can imagine a very big Koala lying on its stomach with four short thick legs, brown thick fur and very strong - thats a Wombat. - well its actually a Koala making out to be a Wombat, but you know what I mean.
I would think its safe to say there are a lot more wombats than Koalas. Wombats are everywhere since they eat any sort of grass.
The nearest to my home are only twenty miles away. They were right where I live a long time ago but small farmers chased them out because their tractors would keep getting stuck in the burrows. From twenty miles away the farms/ranches are all thousands of acres so the farmers don't mind.
Wombats are cute, for such a big animal, and less likely to bite than a Koala. They are a ball of muscle, with an apparent sense of humour. They demonstrate this by coming onto the road and playing "wreck the car suspension".
Unlike kangaroos, wombats never speed. They are peaceful, lawabiding big fat slobs, just like me!
I love 'em.
There are many more unique Australian animals that will be covered in future reviews, such as the 10 inch man eating Platypus and the "eye pecking Emu", a true sign of love - for the blind.
Recommended:
Yes
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