Macropods rule again

This male Wallaroo never came close to the cabin, despite all the fences coming down. I never saw more than one couple, and usually only one of the pair. The females are paler and smaller, but still stocky and longhaired.

It rained a lot at the Mountain, as this bedraggled little Roo family could attest.

It was the Eastern Redneck Wallabies who made themselves most at home as the netting gradually was rolled out of their way.

But they were happy to share ‘my’ space with the Eastern Grey Kangaroos. The male Roo by the barbeque is on alert, as always when I appeared, but if I came no closer he would stay. The females and joeys were much more relaxed.

Here they are all lying about drying off in the sunshine after a rainy spell, with me well distanced.

Being the only human there, I was allowed to witness many aspects of macropod behaviour.

Like these young male Wallabies practice-boxing. They balanced on their tails as they ’stood’, clasping each other and cuffing faces.

The bravado often fell as they overbalanced and did the same, which would usually end the ‘fight’.

Or their methods of cleaning themselves, like sitting back with their tail stretched out in front between their legs, and carefully defleaing it.

Sometimes the joey would help its mother deal with awkward places for the process, repaying her usual role as cleaner.

Not that the young were slack about their own cleanliness, like cleaning their dainty black paws.

When I say the Wallabies were the most relaxed, I mean it! I simply didn’t count, and often had to step over one to get past. I put up a toddler-type gate at the top of the verandah steps, for fear those long feet would get them into trouble.

While there were plenty of these Wallabies at my place, I never tired of watching them, of photographing them. I especially  loved the mother/joey connections, no matter how old the ‘child’, pouch-fitting or not.