The rest of the day was spent at Cleland Wildlife Park roaming the park grounds and befriending the fauna. We encountered several emus, pelicans, koalas, wombats; numerous kangaroos, wallabies, birds, reptiles, bilbies and bettongs (rodents on steroids); and one Tasmanian devil and one dingo. Most of the aforementioned animals were allowed to roam free in their designated areas.
For $2 AUD you can buy a package of animal feed (small pellets that look like hamster food) to feed the kangaroos and wallabies. We tried to share our pellets with the emus as well but they didn't appreciate the gesture so much.
I was shocked by how tame the kangaroos were. Upon entering the park, a couple of them hopped over to us with expectant faces and even nuzzled at our hands. I had learned that kangaroos are capable of kicking the living shit out of you if threatened, so you could imagine the panic I felt when I saw that there were no barriers between the marsupials and us. My initial expectation of "feeding" was to throw the pellets over a fence and watch the pellet consumption from afar. I clearly had the wrong idea. Much to my surprise, the roos in the park were curious and friendly, and had no qualms about eating directly from your hand (see below).
(Above is my first encounter with a real live kangaroo. Notice my look of delight.)
(A hungry 'roo.)
(A 'roo close-up.)
For $12 AUD you can have your picture taken cuddling a fuzzy koala. You have to pay that amount to hold the koala even if you don't want your picture taken with one. I opted for the second best alternative, which was to stroke a koala's derriere (apparently, koalas don't like it if you touch them anywhere else on their body) and capture that precious moment with a self-supplied camera for free.
(That's Nola. You see my hand on her rump? That's the way she likes it.)
Koalas usually live up to 15 years and eat about 10 percent of their body weight in eculyptus leaves (between 1,000 and 1,500 leaves) a day.
I have a ton of photos from the park (videos too!). E-mail me if you'd like to see more.
3 comments:
Cute marsupials. Can't say the same for the human.
I think you and I have the same watch. Did you get it at target?
Ouch. Well, that's the last time I try to compete with marsupials in the cuteness category. Strictly compared to other humans, however, I blow the competition out of the water. Your mom told me so last night.
I did get my watch from Target. I find that the strap is a bit too long for my wrist though. The part of the velcro that sticks out has been gnawing at some of my clothes.
You know, I even refrained from posting the your mom comment about feeling up the koala's posterior.
I had the same problem with the strap as well, but then I ate lots of chocolate and voila, it fit. Although with your skinny hands, the same technique might take too long.
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