Kangaroo feeding
Wren & Frost loved the kangaroos. Here is a picture of Frost feeding a big red kangaroo who was basking in the sun. The kangaroos were grazing over a wide area and others lying in the sun. The trees in the paddock were all fenced to prevent 'wild' koala from climbing up them. This was kind of funny because in Seattle we see trees encased like this to protect them from beaver attack and with metal bands around to stop squirrel climbing up.
Can I touch the joey in its mother's pouch?"
Frost is all about extreme sports - even in the animal petting department. After he had fed a number of kangaroos he sidled up to a eastern grey mother kangaroo with a large baby in its pouch. The baby's legs were poking out. The kangaroo was a bit skittish and turned its head away instead of eating so Granny said not to touch it. Frost really really wanted to touch the baby joey. I sat down next to the kangaroo with him and he reached out very tentatively and stroked the legs of the baby joey. The legs were the only things sticking out.
Here is Wren being a Kangaroo next to the mother with the joey. Wren enjoyed chasing the kangaroos although they did not seem to mind.
Do we need to see the Koalas? We have them in the garden.
Here is Wren standing in his stroller by the koala exhibit. Each little enclosure has at least one koala up in the shade. From time to time one climbs down and runs to the next 'tree' to find fresh leaves which are provided daily.
Potteroos in the BushesOn the way out Frost noticed an animal in the bushes. It was a family of potteroos running wild. Apparently they do very well at Cleland which is fenced and kept free of predators like fox and feral domestic cats. Here the boys try and feed the potteroos kangaroo food. I am calling them potteroos but they may be Bettongs. I have been studying the guide to Australian animals for a while and still cannot differentiate the various small pouched things. I overheard an American tourist saying loudly "all these Australian animals are like versions of the kangaroo. They are all different sized kangaroos."
E-MEW not E-MOOApparently I have been very UN-Australian in my pronounciation of Emu. I have been calling them e-moos not e-MEWS. I am on notice to improve my accent. It is odd, but when I am in the US I am considered South African / Australian but when I am in those countries I am clearly Not-From-Here.
Last time we saw emus we had a problem with them trying to mate with us. I mentioned this to Stewart, a family friend, and he said that if they bother you you should raise a hand in the air like a long neck with your wrist bent for form a head. This stops the emu from its attack.
These emus did not attack or try to mate with us. They walked around making strange booming noises in their throats, like people drumming very fast.
Here is Wren looking up in the sky to see a big black goana that has climbed up a tree.
Snakes
There is a reptile house at the park and it contained a number of the snakes including the brown snake which occurs in the Adelaide Hills. We saw "a really nasty snake" called a Mulga snake (one of the largest venomous snakes) and the inland Taipan which is one of the world's most venomous snakes.
We were interested to learn that snakes can be rated for their danger as well as with the LD50 rating of their venom (LD50 is the amount of a material, given all at once, which causes the death of 50% (one half) of a group of test animals. The LD50 is one way to measure the short-term poisoning potential (acute toxicity) of a material.) The brown snake was given a rating of 14 for overall danger - a combination of venom toxicity, position of fangs, aggression, amount of venom and frequency of bites occuring. I have not been able to find out any more about this general rating but it was fun for Frost to have a number for the snake.
We are now going shopping (another post coming on that) and we have to go.
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