Recently, I wrote about a new mob of six Eastern Grey Kangaroos which seem to have displaced our usual mob of three. Unlike the previous mob, they are not on our land all of the time.
Kangaroo Diary
If I see kangaroos of a morning or evening, I do take at least a couple of photographs to document the days they visit. They were here:
- 1 September
- 9 September
- 17 and 18 September
- 25 September
- 2 October
- 7 October
- 14 October (today)
It’s not quite clockwork, but there does seem to be a pattern emerging of approximately a week to ten days between visits. This suggests they have a regular territorial routine which they follow.
Mob Structure
Today the kangaroos came closer to the house than they have previously done. I was able to work out the structure of the group.
The dominant male seems tolerant of other, younger, males in the mob. Usually he sticks pretty close to the dominant female, who is carrying a joey in her pouch, but I’ve also seen him grazing slightly away from the others, as if keeping an eye on them from a distance. If there is a noise or something that attracts his attention, he will move close to the others and stand up high in a protective manner.
Two younger kangaroos seem to be forming a bond. This is a young male and female, much smaller than the dominant pair. I’ve seen the dominant male and this younger one grazing side by side without any apparent tension. This younger male seems quite dark compared to other kangaroos, just like the dominant male. My hunch is that it could be an almost grown joey from a couple of years ago.
The sixth member of the mob is a young, single, male. While he is tolerated by the others, he is always grazing away from them. It is almost like he is following them rather than part of their group. However, I haven’t seen any aggression toward him. It seems he is able to move around with them as long as he knows his place.
Later on in the week I will post some photographs of the joey, which came out of the pouch for a quick play this morning.
Fifteen Acres 
Lovely photographs 🙂
Thanks Margaret. 🙂
I always feel sorry for the animals being edged out of the family group, life is tough for them but I know it’s the natural way. Enjoyed your photos and the info on the different roos.
Yes, me too. They look a bit forlorn. In this mob, the others seem to interact by touch a lot (will feature this in a couple of days) and the one trailing along doesn’t get touched at all. I hope he finds a friend soon. Lisa