I know that the wallabies truly feel at home in the yard now by the way they sleep here in the warmth of the late winter days, letting me walk past so close to them. Some of the very newly outed joeys are skittish but they soon learn I’m no threat.
This mother is so unconcerned that she is fast asleep, not even pretending to keep watch through half-closed eyes, as they often do. Note the well-stripped rose bush behind her!
The joey stays close, in physical touch with mum. This endearing joey is, I think, the first one I made eye contact with, when it was a pouch-dweller. It often has one floppy ear.
I mildly regret the roses and all the other plants they eat, but how can I not be delighted that such beautiful and gentle creatures now think of my place as as ‘our place’?
This what a Wildlife Refuge ought to be — a place of trust, of safety.
Yes Laura, it reminds me of how my daughter often looks at 6am on the couch after too many 5 am starts with her little ones!
Looking at that mum, I know the feeling! Hope she enjoyed her nap.