Wild Facts

Photo by Sean Mack (Wikimedia)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CANADA!!!

That’s right, it is indeed Canada Day where we get to celebrate our wonderful country with great friends, fireworks and if you live in Ottawa – the Royal Couple of the Year.  Now I wanted to do an animal that represented Canada but I have already completed facts on critters such as the Beaver and the Canada Goose.  As a result, I decided to write about an animal that has nothing to do with our great Country.  Nope, the Quokka can’t be found in Canada (unless you know someone that has a pet Quokka).  Instead they are found in parts of Australia, so let’s take a trip down under to celebrate Canada’s birthday.

The Quokka is a small marsupial, which is actually about the size of standard house cat (not one of those fat house cats like Garfield). In fact, the Quokka is the smallest Wallaby species that we know about at this point in time.  Compared to other Wallaby species, this particular marsupial has shorter hind legs and a smaller tail, which allow them to manoeuvre through thick forests at great speeds with ease.  Unfortunately, this evolutionary advantage didn’t help them once domestic cats, foxes and dogs were introduced to Australia.  As a result, their population has declined greatly since the early settlers of Australia.  I guess this type of thing is bound to happen but it is tough to see it happen to such a cute animal.

Photo by Hesperian (Wikimedia)

Given their size, it is probably not tough to believe that the Quokka is actually a vegetarian. Although, they spend the majority of their time feasting on grasses found in the undergrowth, they have been known to climb up trees to feed on leaves as well. No matter what they are feeding on they will typically swallow it whole.  Of course, once they do this they will regurgitate their food before eating the recycled plant matter one more time.  I know this doesn’t sound appealing to you or I but it is a great way for them to get all of the nutrients out of their food.  Not only do they get their nutrients but they also get most of their water this way as well.  In fact, the Quokka is able to go months without needing to drink any water.  I can’t even last a few hours!

That does it for our Canada Day Wild Fact.  I hope you all get to enjoy this great day, no matter where you live.  Have a good weekend and I will see you on Monday.

Photo by Noodle snacks (www.noodlesnacks.com)

Well, I just had another amazing day snowmobiling around the Yukon Territory.  No matter how cold it may get this is definitely a beautiful country I live in.  But again, the fresh air is messing with my energy levels.  Believe it or not I actually fell asleep at my desk while I was waiting for my computer to reboot.  I promise to finish this fact before I head to bed (or better yet, get my second wind and wrap some Christmas presents).  Today we are heading to Australia to study a small marsupial called the Pademelon.  The Kangaroo, Wallaby and Pademelon are all similar is appearance but vary in size.  In fact the Wallaby was originally referred to as large and small wallabies but eventually they changed the small version to Pademelon to differentiate between them.

The Pademelon isn’t just a smaller wallaby as they also have shorter, thicker and sparsely haired tails.  Different species of Pademelon can be found throughout Queensland, New Guinea and of course Tasmania.  We are just going to look at the general characteristics of the Pademelon.  As you may have guessed this smaller version of the Wallaby is also a marsupial, meaning the females have a pouch on her belly designed especially for her young.

Photo from Wikimedia

During the day the Pademelon will usually spend its time resting and waiting for the darker and cooler night time.  Once the sun sets this little marsupial will go off on its own to look for some yummy dinner.  What is delicious for a Pademelon?  Well, they enjoy eating a variety of things including berries, leaves, grasses, herbs and other vegetation they find in the dense jungle forests where they live.  Personally, I can handle the berries and the herbs but eating grasses and leaves would just get tiring after awhile.

Lucky for the Pademelon, in most areas they live there are not a lot of predators.  In these areas, habitat loss is the only thing they need to fear.  In other areas though they have to be on the lookout for dingos, tasmanian devils, snakes and naturally the flying predators such as Eagles.  Obviously, the Tasmanian Devil is only a predator for the species of Pademelon that live in Tasmania.  I would think that would be a huge asset to living somewhere else such as New Guinea.   Heck, even northern Canada would be better since you wouldn’t have to deal with those vicious Devils.

That does it for our trip to the sunny south.  I hope you enjoyed yourself and I will see you back here tomorrow for the last fact of the week.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:GNU_Free_Documentation_License

If you have been following Wild Facts all week (and I know some of you have been) then you may have noticed that we have talked about a couple of Australian animals such as the wombat and the koala bear.  I figured I would end the week with another Australian animal.  Actually, this animal is also a marsupial. Anyone else find it interesting that their are a lot of pouched animals living in Australia? By this point, I am sure you have read the title and realize that I am of course talking about the Wallaby!

Wallabies are smaller than their kangaroo cousins but have some very similar characteristics. Earlier this week I mentioned that the koala bear and the wombat were also related to the kangaroo.  It seems that everything in Australia is related to that hippity-hop animal.  Their family reunions would be a blast although I bet it would be tough to convince them to come out of their pouches long enough to enjoy the company.

If you look at the picture above (go ahead and look again) you will notice that the wallaby has a very long tail. In fact, their tail can be as long as their entire body.  The wallaby puts this long, powerful tail to good use as it helps balance them while jumping around all day.  As well, they can use this tail to prop themselves up into a sitting position.  How weird would it be to come around a corner and see a bunch of wallabies just sitting on their tails. This is actually possible since wallabies tend to be a social animal and will often forage with other wallabies.  It makes sense since nobody likes eating alone! While we are on the topic of foraging, I guess I should let you know what these critters like to eat. The majority of their diet is made up of grasses, however, when they feel like mixing up their diet they will also feed on leaves, shrubs and berries.  Personally, I would take berries over grass, leaves or shrubs!

If you are bored and feel like watching a baby wallaby at the zoo then check out the video below.

Well folks, that just about does it for me today!  Have a great weekend and I will see you all on Monday.  Although, if I can get motivated, you may see me around the site this weekend but we shall see!

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:GNU_Free_Documentation_License

If you have been following Wild Facts all week (and I know some of you have been) then you may have noticed that we have talked about a couple of Australian animals such as the wombat and the koala bear.  I figured I would end the week with another Australian animal.  Actually, this animal is also a marsupial. Anyone else find it interesting that their are a lot of pouched animals living in Australia? By this point, I am sure you have read the title and realize that I am of course talking about the Wallaby!

Wallabies are smaller than their kangaroo cousins but have some very similar characteristics. Earlier this week I mentioned that the koala bear and the wombat were also related to the kangaroo.  It seems that everything in Australia is related to that hippity-hop animal.  Their family reunions would be a blast although I bet it would be tough to convince them to come out of their pouches long enough to enjoy the company.

If you look at the picture above (go ahead and look again) you will notice that the wallaby has a very long tail. In fact, their tail can be as long as their entire body.  The wallaby puts this long, powerful tail to good use as it helps balance them while jumping around all day.  As well, they can use this tail to prop themselves up into a sitting position.  How weird would it be to come around a corner and see a bunch of wallabies just sitting on their tails. This is actually possible since wallabies tend to be a social animal and will often forage with other wallabies.  It makes sense since nobody likes eating alone! While we are on the topic of foraging, I guess I should let you know what these critters like to eat. The majority of their diet is made up of grasses, however, when they feel like mixing up their diet they will also feed on leaves, shrubs and berries.  Personally, I would take berries over grass, leaves or shrubs!

If you are bored and feel like watching a baby wallaby at the zoo then check out the video below.

Well folks, that just about does it for me today!  Have a great weekend and I will see you all on Monday.  Although, if I can get motivated, you may see me around the site this weekend but we shall see!