Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Wildlife on Wednesday ... the Agile Wallaby.

Because we live outside a city in the foothills of the surrounding ranges and in the midst of bushland, we get to see some varied and fabulous wildlife ... so I thought I would highlight some of these amazing creatures every Wednesday.

For my first post on wildlife I'd love to share some photos of one of our garden visitors that we get to see almost every day of the year .... the Agile Wallaby - Macropus agilis.  I lovingly refer to them as 'my lawnmowers' because they spend a lot of time grazing around my property.  My granddaughter always calls them the 'Agile Wobblies!' ... much cuter!

 

The Agile Wallaby is a medium sized wallaby.  They are a common sight down the east coast of Queensland.
They have light sandy brown hair with paler hair underneath, a pale cheek stripe and light stripe on the thigh. The edges of the ears are black. 


They live in small social groups and can often be seen feeding out in the open in the late afternoon or early morning.


We see a lot of mother Agile wallabies with their joeys...


and the little ones are just adorable!  They usually stay with their mother for the first twelve months of their lives.


Some stay far too long ... this little one was almost the same size as its mother and looked like a bit of a burden to carry!  The wonders of a mother's love!



16 comments:

  1. Will you explain the difference between a kangaroo, and a wallaby? Next Wednesday, if you get kangaroos too?

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  2. Wonderful pictures Bernie! The little one second from last is just adorable. There are some Wallabies in the bushland on the edge of my town, but they are very wary of people and take off as soon as they hear movement. Would love to get a closer look!

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  3. Bernie, what an astonishing collection of photos! I liked the third from the bottom the best- you can see the joey clearly in the mother's pouch. It is a great idea to share your experiences with the wild ones. I look forward to reading more posts from you.

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  4. Excellent! Beautiful photos. And very educational. I do think I'm going to think of them as 'Wobblies' from now on lol.

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  5. Bernie, I love those wobblies, they're adorable! I wish we had them here! How fun to look out across your property to a hoard of those! The only thing I've seen hoards of lately, are slugs!

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  6. Ahhh, they are so cute. Do you have a problem with them getting into gardens?

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  7. Elephant's Eye ... next Wednesday I will most certainly explain the difference and post some kangaroo photos ... just for you!

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  8. GG ... because my house is high set, we can walk around the verandah observing them without ever getting too close. If we go downstairs, they do jump away pretty quickly ... except for one that seems to be less afraid that all the others. That one comes up onto the courtyard garden at the back of our house.

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  9. Thanks Lotusleaf ... we are so lucky to be living here as we get to see so many animals just doing what comes naturally!

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  10. Kyna ... truth be told, that's what I call them all the time now!

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  11. Curbstone ... yes I spend quite a bit of time just watching these lovely creatures ... they can sometimes have rather human-like traits in the way they interact with each other.

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  12. Hocking Hills Gardener ... they're actually not too bad as they mainly eat grass and grass roots. I have had a couple of wallabies, however, who have developed a taste for things like portulacas and kalanchoe ... so I've lost a few of those. I've learnt the plants they won't touch and these are growing in the downstairs garden beds now.

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  13. incredible cuteness! so sweet! thanks for posting such wonderful photos!

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  14. Dear Bernie, I am so pleased to have discovered your site after you were kind enough to pick my latest posting.

    I have very much enjoyed seeing these wildlife pictures and will most certainly be looking forward to more.

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  15. Hi Bernie, The Wallabies are such pretty creatures. Beautiful photos. Love the mums and their joes. When I lived on the farm I found and brought one up. Susie the Wallaby.
    It is nice to live near the bush to see and observe our wonderful wildlife.

    http://underahottersun.blogspot.com/2009/03/under-hotter-sun-susie.html

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  16. Lovely story and photographs, Bernie. The wallabies look nice and friendly, but I suspect they are fairly shy.

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