Wild on Wednesday rewind

I imagine you have all guessed I am offline a bit these past few days..i am in a flare up..tired sore and hence unmotivated!
But I finally found my video in the deep recesses of my computer..and thought I would share it as my Wild Wednesday offering..it always makes me smile to watch my roos and they have been not so frequent as the grasses dry up…so please enjoy the Ketchup Mob.
So turn the volume up and fill the screen and excuse my spelling errors..sheesh..

Wild on Wednesday

Today I am so happy to introduce you all to Tippy and family.
You may remember the first time you met the little one..

Hey this is pretty good..

All feet and very much still mainly in mum’s protective pouch.
Well Tippy is out and about and a very confidant youngster too…I believe Tippy is a little girl..she has been straying quite far from mum and really enjoying the world she calls home.

Now her dad..well let me introduce Buster..

Buster and Titch

Now mum (who is tiny so I have called her titch) appears to be trying her hardest this afternoon to ward of Busters advances…yes love is in the air folks…

In this picture you can see Buster grab her tail.. he had been sniffing her in a most invasive way.. and she kept moving away, then he would grab her tail…
Male roos are not aggressive when they are courting their girls and believe me SHE calls the shots.. and so after watching him as the family went around the front of the property I decided that since he was so desperate to bust a move on her that I named him Buster.

He is a seemingly young male..and judging by his huge tail in proportion to the rest of him..he may end up a Boomer or Alpha roo.. he is, I think going to be a big big boy when fully grown.

Titch may need to watch herself 😉

 

Titch

 

As you can see her chest appears wet..it was 38C today and she may have been rubbing her chest with her arms..roos cool down by licking their arms and the blood vessels close to the skin act as cooling.Eastern Greys have insulating fur all year around as opposed to red roos who tend to live in much much hotter climates.

This little family was so sweet to watch…mum trying to eat..dad trying to get romantic with mum and bub just wanting to take the world in..

Buster and Tippy

And Tippy will be safe knowing her dad is always there…look at how she looks at him..such a powerful creature and she has no fear..

My dad and me

Hoping you all find some fun and beauty today to soak in..

Wild on Wednesday

It has been a while since I did a Wild feature..the roos lately have headed to find greener grass and there sure is NO green grass here at the moment.

I miss their visits and I think they are mainly down the back paddocks where the dams on everyones properties ,including ours, provide much needed water that has dried from the grasses and foliage.

So apart from being busy and the roos being elusive I was kind of stumped as to what I could feature from our little property..i did the Stumpies and a lot of people were very amazed at them some people even kind of scared by them,funny the way we react to reptiles even when usually none of us will ever see the things that scare us so much!

Last night I ran out of milk, so Hubby headed off to the shops,it 7.30pm and still light..i got a call on my mobile

‘Hey grab some gloves and come down the driveway’

I could hear our sheep baa’ing but for some stupid reason instantly thought we had a cow loose somewhere! go figure..not a cow close by anywhere..

No what we had was a Tortoise! Hubby has driven down the driveway and seen an odd dirty looking thing and braked in time to stop..there he was..Tutor Turtle..

He bought him up to the house,he was very dry and had come from either the dam over the neighbours or the dam on the other side of our property.

Either way he was headed to bush without water and near the road of our street.

We popped him in the pups pool,added some big concrete blocks so he could get out and in and left him to settle and get some water ,after tea we came out and he was in the bottom of the pool happily swimming around,so off we went and took him to our dam down the back.

Here he will have shelter from reeds, food from the yabbies ,frogs, and leeches..and as much as we have had no rain our dam is much deeper than the one he has wandered from.

I am almost certain I have seen a Tortoise in our dam so he will have company also and there is not a road in sight so if he wanders again he will be safe!

We watched him as we set him just in the water’s edge..the sun was starting to go and when he was ready he stretched his neck out had a peek and off he went to discover his new home.

He left nothing but some bubbles in the surface..i wish you well Tutor..Drizzle Drazzle Drazzle Drone…time for this one to come home.

Tutor : He is an Eastern Snake necked Tortoise..he was most likely a male due to his smaller size.He was about 9inches in diameter and had a flatter body than the fuller females

They get the name snake neck because unlike other tortoises or turtles they do not ‘pop’ their heads in and out they wrap them around and under the shell.

They also have the nickname ‘Stinker’ because they have glands that release a really foul smell when picked up or scared..and yes PEE YEW he was letting them rip!

Please enjoy a very different Wild Wednesday with these pics and the little video.

 

In the pups pool..getting some much needed water

Finally a little foot pokes out

Having a peek around

Lovely little critter

Putting some water on his little shell

Showing Tutor his new digs

That neck right out and off he goes

Nothing but some bubbles to know he is there

The sun setting on another great adventure here at home

Wild on Wednesdays

The roos have been very busy around here of late…maybe they know the grasses will be scarce soon when the Summer dries the ground again..so nearly every morning and afternoon this lovely family pays a visit..they start out the front and work their way down the front and then across the property..we did notice a couple of boys on the opposite side of the front drive..i am wondering ,as the big boy with the young girls and joey’s were on the other side if these boys are getting to an age where they need their own mob..they were a good size and looked quite strong and healthy…I also noticed ne had a sizeable scar on his leg..maybe the result of some boxing…and when these boys took off they displayed some really long powerful legs..they also stood and watched me quite boldly..i was on the front verandah and these young guys were only about 12 metres away (35 feet) eventually they got bored with me and turned tail and hopped off…

The big boy with the girls and joeys in his grazing area

Seems he has a little fan club of joey’s..or he is a babysitter

This young joey feels quite safe with his mob

One of the young big males on the opposite side of the driveway

One of the young guys standing watching me

The young big boy looks beautiful against the Kangaroo thorn wattle

A great close up of the young big boy with the other big boys behind him

Clearly this big boy has no worries about acting as a sentry..notice the scar on his left leg

When they go….they go….strength power agility and speed…

And of course there is nothing like ending with a picture of mum and her bubba

Monday Morning Visitors..

So busy and trying to catch up..so a quick series of cute shots from this morning…first day of Spring…and this mum and her young male joey were enjoying some grasses in the rain…she.. as you can see.. has another wee joey in her pouch…which remained out of sight…

 

Monday morning boxing match

I think you may enjoy these images..they are not the best as I had to take them through the bedroom window… did not want to interrupt these young guys…I just wanted them to behave naturally…without my interference…and so I munched on my toast and crouched in my bedroom and let them have fun..you will see little Nicky has grown and she kept her distance while the boy rumbled 🙂

See the claws are flexed and they use their tails to balance while boxing

A lot of power in those legs ..

Is this the talk down?

No still some talks to be had yet!

And the kick

A bit of a launch

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 🙂

Please enjoy this compilation of the Ketchup Mob

GREAT SOUTHERN LAND I LOVE YOU

HAPPY AUSTRALIA  DAY EVERYONE..ENJOY THE LAND I LIVE IN..PLEASE BIGIFY FOR THE BEST VIEWING..

MUSIC : GREAT SOUTHERN LAND  AND ARTIST IVA DAVIES……..

MICRO MACRO MONDAY

THE BIGGEST TO THE SMALLEST THEY ALL PLAY A PART IN THE WONDERFUL WORLD WE LIVE IN..PLEASE CLICK TO BIGIFY SO YOU CAN ENJOY THE SWEET LITTLE CALFS FACE…HAPPY MONDAY EVERYONE AND FIND THE BIG AND SMALL IN YOUR DAY.