For those who asked

I know I have been showing lot’s of roo pictures and please let me know if it’s getting boring guys..i tend to get a little excited when I see them! I know I live with them all the time and I am an Aussie but I never take for granted the wonderful roos that we live with.
I have had a few really good questions about them and so I thought I would share some of the facts I know about these beautiful animals with you.

The Eastern Grey Kangaroo is the species we live with here..this amazing Roo is born 36 days after conception..the size of a Lima bean it ‘swims’ it’s way up to mums pouch on the fur she has licked in a trail..once inside mums pouch the tiny little joey latches on to a teat and clings firm ..mum has four teats..and this new baby will be here for at least 6 month..at which stage it will poke it’s head out of the pouch..it will hop out at about 8 months old but still be mainly reliant on mums milk up to 12-18 months..
Mum is amazing as she changes the protein levels in her milk according to joeys age!
She can become pregnant soon after having a joey and can keep that embryo in ‘limbo’ until the joey leaves the pouch..at which stage this little one begins life..this is in case the joey dies or leaves she always seems to be pregnant!! poor mum hey!

Females stay with the mob as they grow but the males leave to join bachelor mobs..as only one Alpha male is entitled to breed with the females.

A fully grown Eastern Grey Kangaroo averages 25-30 kilograms
The Males 55-65 kilograms with the Alpha male getting up to 80-90 kilos
Females stand at 1.8 metres and males at 2.2 meters
Adult males are called Boomers..Females called Does, Flyers or Jills.
The Eastern Grey can travel at a comfortable hopping speed (they do not run) of 20-25 km(13-16mph) but up to 70km(44mph) over a short distance.
If they need to they can sustain a speed of 40km(25mph) for a distance of 2km (1.2miles)
They can jump Horizontally 9 metres at full speed! they can leap 3 metres (10feet) high.
They cannot walk backwards and cannot use their hind legs independently on land but are good swimmers.They use their long tails as a tripod with their forelimbs (arms to me:) ) to move forward and also use these huge tails to balance on when boxing..they do this by raising their powerful hindlegs and kicking forward and then dragging the feet and claws down..they have been known to disembowel dogs when threatened and also when chased will head to water where they will use their legs to drown the dog or predator.
When distressed they will rub their hands together ..when they feel threatened they will stomp the ground to warn the MOB ..if they cannot jump a fence they will go under or crawl through..the safety of a mob means they can scatter if threatened and confuse the predators..mums and joey’s often try and keep out of this as it is scary for the young…
They make funny coughing chuffing sounds and I have heard this and it is quite bizarre indeed.
So there is a bit of info on the furry ones I share my home with and the pictures will show mobs on the run…jumping over fences ,climbing under and going through as you will see it depends on the size of the roo as to how they get out from a fenced yard.I was watching from my top paddock and a good distance and you will notice how the biggest male stands his ground and puffs his chest out to check me out..mums with curious joey’s poking out from the pouch and young ‘at foot’ joeys..i wonder when mums jump if the joeys get a little head ache!!!
I hope this answers some questions you had about these beautiful and intriguing creatures Marsupials known as Macropods 🙂

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