Hearing an unusual noise at 3am last night, we turned on the light to see that one of our cats had caught a bat, and was in the process of dragging it under the bed. In our half-asleep state, we noticed a second bat laying on the carpet. We’re not sure how one cat managed … Continue reading Cats, Bats and Beds at 3am
Category: Mammals
Testing Their Strength: Young male kangaroos sparring
Something told me to get up early today, and I’m glad I did. Our kangaroo family were back, with two young male kangaroos tagging along behind. My guess is the female kangaroo was in season, as there seemed to be a lot of jostling. The two young males put on a good show right … Continue reading Testing Their Strength: Young male kangaroos sparring
Is Anyone An Expert on Victorian Bats?
For a while now, we have been noticing squeaks coming from within a boxed in gap in the fascia board surrounding the back deck. We’ve suspected there may be a few bats living in this gap and over the last two weeks we have been trying to monitor their habits. Right on the point of … Continue reading Is Anyone An Expert on Victorian Bats?
An Echidna Sighting at Last!
For more than a year I have been finding holes dug by Echidnas – usually around ant nests and plant roots – without having even the smallest glimpse of an Echidna. There was a moment, about a month ago, where someone thought they saw one. By the time I got my camera out and we … Continue reading An Echidna Sighting at Last!
A Privilege to Watch
I couldn’t believe my luck this morning, when our regular Eastern Grey Kangaroo allowed her joey to suckle right in front of the study window. She just stood there for twenty minutes or so while the joey (otherwise independent) put her mouth into the pouch for a feed. Unfortunately, a car noise disturbed them, and … Continue reading A Privilege to Watch
Independence!
The Eastern Grey Kangaroos were back again this week, after an absence of a month or two. On the weekend a male and female made a brief appearance en-route to the back of the property, and this morning we had a group of four: two males, a female, and the joey, which is now independent. … Continue reading Independence!
A wet Swamp Wallaby
The last two days and nights have been wild and woolly with gale force winds and lots of (very welcome) rain. This Swamp Wallaby had obviously not found much shelter, as it was very wet. Even in its bedraggled coat, the rich golden fur of the chest and belly looks soft and glowingly warm. The … Continue reading A wet Swamp Wallaby
Guess who’s been eating the wildflowers!
Often when I’m walking around, I see flowering bushland plants bitten off low to the ground. This is often frustrating when I have been waiting for a flower bud to open. I check daily, and just when the bud is about to burst, I head back the next day full of anticipation of what the … Continue reading Guess who’s been eating the wildflowers!
How Gorgeous! Joey Antics Outside My Window.
About twelve hours after I posted the photos of our kangaroo mob, lamenting that they had not visited for days, they all showed up. This included the mature female with the older joey. For some reason they showed up at noon – almost on the dot. As a habit, the kangaroos are gone before 9am … Continue reading How Gorgeous! Joey Antics Outside My Window.
Eastern Grey Kangaroos – Joey
I was very excited to see the younger of the two joeys out of the pouch a few mornings ago. I delayed posting photos in the hope I could get one which showed its head as well, but for the last three days, I haven’t seen any of the kangaroos. So here it is – … Continue reading Eastern Grey Kangaroos – Joey
Kangaroo Update – now there are two joeys
I’ve held off posting these photographs for a couple of weeks, as one of the Eastern Grey Kangaroo joeys seems almost ready to climb out of the pouch. I thought I might be able to include photos of the joey hopping around. However, since I took these photos, the kangaroos have been grazing in a … Continue reading Kangaroo Update – now there are two joeys
Baby Joey Photos: A new addition to our kangaroo family
It has been obvious for some time that the mature female had a joey in her pouch, but this is the first time we have actually glimpsed it. This makes five kangaroos here now. The middle-sized female also now seems to be carrying a joey, so I guess five will soon turn to six.
Family of Four
At the risk of overloading you with photographs of Eastern Grey Kangaroos, here is an update. Three female kangaroos have been coming past the house to graze a couple of times each week. As noted in my previous post Three Morning Visitors, it appears to be a mature female with two female offspring from her … Continue reading Family of Four
Three Morning Visitors
Kangaroos make their presence known in various ways, even when you can’t physically see them – often with damage to plants in the garden. This usually happens overnight, in the dark, when you don’t even get the pleasure of watching these beautiful creatures. So it was both surprising and pleasant to see three female Eastern … Continue reading Three Morning Visitors
Looking for Kangaroos
People who know me well think it is hilarious that I have bought a book called ‘Scats, Tracks and other Traces’ which teaches readers how to identify the various animals which have been active at night, or when they can’t be seen. As indicated by the title of the book, sometimes this involves looking at … Continue reading Looking for Kangaroos
Koala
Late in the afternoon, I decided cooking dinner could wait for half an hour while I went for a walk. As I walked, I practiced deep breathing and tried to clear my mind of all of the ‘mental clutter’ built up during the day. These walks are becoming my way of stilling my mind. I’m … Continue reading Koala
A pair of Eastern Grey Kangaroos
I know I have posted a few photos of kangaroos and wallabies lately, but we seem to have them for regular visitors this month. They are looking for green grass and fresh leafy fodder in the very dry Summer we are having over here. Today we saw our first male/female pair of kangaroos. Usually we … Continue reading A pair of Eastern Grey Kangaroos
A Better Look at our Swamp Wallaby
The rich green grass growing over the septic tank outlet seems to be quite a drawcard for macropods at the moment. Today we were out most of the day, and very surprised to find a Swamp Wallaby feeding outside the house during the daytime. They are usually nocturnal creatures. From the way it was eating … Continue reading A Better Look at our Swamp Wallaby
Eastern Grey Kangaroo
Yesterday in Waiting for the End of Summer I lamented that nothing much was happening around here. This morning I woke earlier than usual and found an Eastern Grey Kangaroo feeding on the long green grass growing over the septic tank outlet pipe. The Australian Wood Ducks like this spot too. It’s certainly lush, and … Continue reading Eastern Grey Kangaroo
Swamp Wallaby 2: Ornamental Plum Breakfast
Our bedroom window faces East. Yesterday morning, I had to get up earlier than usual, and I was greeted by a brilliant terracotta coloured sky at sunrise. I got the camera out, intending to capture this brilliant colour, opened the door onto our decking and came face to face with a Swamp Wallaby in the … Continue reading Swamp Wallaby 2: Ornamental Plum Breakfast
Swamp Wallaby
Our Christmas present this year is a photo of a Swamp Wallaby! We’ve sighted a #kangaroo or wallaby from a distance twice before, and have seen scratchings in the ground, so we knew they were around. However, like many Australian mamals, kangaroos and wallabies are nocturnal creatures. We owe this photo to an early clock-radio … Continue reading Swamp Wallaby
Fifteen Acres 