Close Encounters of the Marsupial Kind

So we went to Caversham on Saturday, and it was a really awesome time. We had to leave early in the morning, and it took quite a bit of work to get there (three different buses, including an hour and a half search for the stop which would get us onto bus three, a missed shuttle, and a little walking through the bush). It was definitely all well worth it though when we finally made it to the wildlife park and were able to get up close and personal with the animals.

The first animal we saw was a Tasmanian devil. You might remember the animal as the spinning tornado named Taz in the old Warner Bros cartoons. While I imagined that the cartoon representation was a complete misrepresentation of the animal, the little guy we met was actually running in circles nonstop, which I suppose for arguments sake isn't really that far off from spinning in cirlces like a tornado. Either way the whole thing was pretty silly as the Tasmanian devil kept running the same pattern over and over again for no apparent reason. He had done it so many times that there was actually a dirt path from where he'd stamped out the grass. We must have watched him for fifteen minutes, and he never stopped. I started taking some video of "Taz" and that's when he decided to throw a curveball at us.





Another famous animal that we'd all been dying to see since we arrived in Australia was the Koala. The Koala exhibit at Caversham was great. We were able to pet the animals and take pictures with them. It wasn't really a bother for the Koalas, since all they do, as you will see in the video, is sleep and eat. Perhaps the Australians derived their laid back lifestyle from that of the Koala.




The best part of Caversham, though, had to be the kangaroos. Not only were you able to walk into the kangaroo habitat, but you could also feed the kangaroos too. Although the kangaroos seemed to be a bit lazy (there isn't much reason to move when you can lay in the sun all day while people bring you food right up to your mouth), I was able to get a video of one hopping away. I'm guessing it's probably a little better than the Detroit Zoo's kangaroo exhibit, eh Drew?



I like the video of the hopping kangaroo because I think it is such a fascinating sight to watch and quite a peculiar way to get around. I took another video of Andrew feeding the kangaroo, which you can watch if you'd like by clicking here.

Well that does it for video, but of course, I took hundreds of pictures too. I added a few of the best pictures to the slideshow. Then I picked out the better ones and shaved the total down to 91 photos, which I added to my web album here. I thought it would be easier to talk about the photos while you're looking at them, so check out the captions below each picture.

Also, a quick word about the Tasmanian devil. It is actually the largest carnivorous marsupial in Australia. That means there isn't really any big, man-eating predator on land here. Obviously, you've got the sharks and the crocs to look out for in the water. But what exactly is the deadliest creature in Australia? I found some information about that in a book at the gift shop. The number one killer in Australia in the last 80 years is the box jellyfish (67 people). In second, not surprisingly it's the great white shark (40). But the number three killer in the treacherous land of Australia... bees (38). I'm not sure if that is because the bees here are worse or if that's just from bee allergies, but I thought it was quite surprising. Also, the dingo was near last place on the list with just 2.

Well that should be enough to keep everyone happy and occupied for now, and it should buy me enough time to come up with something for my next blog post.

***Update: I swapped pictures with Andrew so I put some of his in this album. Yes mom, there will finally be some pictures of your son.***

***New Update: I was informed that the Tasmanian devil video wasn't working because it was private. I have fixed the problem and made it public.***