A short time ago I posted photographs of a young joey jumping all over its mother.  Well, this time the kangaroos were right in front of the house and the joey was quite aggressive – kicking the female kangaroo in the head and torso, as well as apparently drawing blood.  I guess this is what happens when there are no other young joeys to play with.  As the final photograph shows, it won’t be long before this joey doesn’t fit back into the pouch.  At least then joey’s mother won’t need to carry it around – what a load!

In this pose, the joey looks so innocent and calm…

Taking a flying leap at its mother, the young joey tries to wrestle her.

The female kangaroo tries to push the joey away.

Joey then tries to jump on her back, eventually laying right across her.

She pushes the joey off, so he begins playing with her ears…

…getting rougher and rougher until he scratched her face.

More wrestling occurs, with joey kicking out his hind legs. In this photo you can see a red scratch on the side of her pouch.

By this time, the wrestling, jumping and scratching has been going on for about twenty minutes. The very patient female kangaroo seems to be getting a bit distressed now.

After a few more ‘calm down’ grips from the female kangaroo, the joey does eventually settle down, eat a bit of grass and go back into the pouch.

When I look at this photograph I don’t know how the female kangaroo bounded off at full speed carrying this big joey in her pouch. I’m impressed with her obvious strength.