Thursday 5 March 2015

Tasmanian Wombat.

The Common Wombat is a rather splendid animal - while they are undoubtably unaware that they are the worlds largest hole dwelling herbivore, they cannot be unaware that people like standing near them!

In some places you can track down a wombat on its evening wander by looking for the crowds of tourists laughing and pointing.

These wombats were a little less harassed by tourists - well, until I came along.

These shots are from the Cradle Mountain area of Tasmania where these chunky marsupials are pretty common.  If you take a close look at these shots you can notice the amount of water on their fur - it was that kind of weather.

The second wombat here seems to be a red-head (red-body?) and shows that not all wombats are a bearish grey!  This one was also either drinking water from a hole it had dug on the side of the road, or it was mining out some tasty roots - whatever it was doing it was making a lot of slurping noises!

These animals can weigh as much as 35kg and grow to over a 1.1m in length.  They are also remarkably solid.



I'm not sure if its a 'trick of the light' but this second wombat does seem to have a cloudy eye, and I wonder if it is an old individual.



You can find more animals from around the world at Saturday Critters (although you will to wait until it's Saturday!)  SM

34 comments:

  1. Cute critters! They're bigger than I thought.

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  2. Red headed wombats! Whatever next will you find for us?

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  3. Oh my - such charm! Such delight.

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  4. Maybe the second one is old like you said old and perhaps they go brown (instead of us going grey)!

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  5. Hi Stewart, they are cute critters. Great captures.. Have a happy day!

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  6. They are cute!
    Bigger than I thought they were.
    Have a great day!
    Lea

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  7. They are wonderful little "teddy bear" creatures! Love these photos of them...they certainly aren't shy about getting their picture taken. That's awesome!

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  8. Oh dit lijkt mij een mooie ervaring om ze zo tegen te komen.

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  9. Mother has a way of filling the niches. How did Tasmania get so many of the really cute ones?

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  10. I wonder if they make good house pets??

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  11. Interesting critter- one I am sure I will never see in real life so thank you for sharing these pics. Have a super day!

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  12. Beautiful animal these Wombat.
    Here in the Netherlands they are not.
    Best regards, Irma

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  13. Wonderful critter! It's always so interesting to see critters and birds that are unfamiliar in our neck of the woods.

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  14. Oh, I love these and I've never seen one before!! Such handsome fellows they are!! Thanks so much for sharing, Stewart!!

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  15. What an adorable critter!!! :)JP

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  16. Aren't they cute..I've heard of them but probably have forgotten what they look like..Are they docile or pretty nasty?.Thanks for sharing..Great pictures..

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  17. I'm delighted to learn about these today! While (true story) I was just talking to my hairdresser yesterday evening while getting a much past due hair cut- about WOMBATS, I really had no recollection in my mind of what they look like!!

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  18. Never seen photos of a Wombat before but these are great. Another animal to add to my list of must-sees.

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  19. I've never seen a wild wombat. The first time I saw one in a zoo it surprised me how big he was. He was a big old boy who was as big as a small pig. I always had it in my head that they were a lot smaller. Love your shots and now I want to head to Cradle Mountain even more.

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  20. Fascinating shots! They are so cute.

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  21. I have never seen such a creature before - nice shots!!

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  22. And I thought in your last photos you'd captured a womble not a wombat!!

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  23. I adore wombats! I think they're a most wonderful creature. And I think your photos are wonderful, too.

    Thanks for sharing...and for being responsible for this smile upon my face early on Saturday morning. :)

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  24. Hello Stewart, just stopping back to say thank you for linking up and sharing your Wombat post..Have a happy weekend!

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  25. Great to know about this cute animal.

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  26. Thanks for this fascinating and informative post. I now realise that I knew nothing about wombats before reading it. You've remedied that.

    I'm surprised at how big they can grow.
    Fascinating.

    Have a great week.

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  27. I have never seen a Wombat before. Sure are cute critter.

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  28. What a beautiful boy that first one is. We get hairy-nosed wombats in SA. They are such fascinating critters.

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  29. Delightful animals and I enjoyed your photos of them Stewart.

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  30. Great shots. Thanks for the view of an odd one.

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  31. Love seeing them. I would certainly enjoy watching and laughing their antics.

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