The Digging Marsupial

 

Appearance

Wombats have a heavy appearance making them look like small, grey, tan, or brown bears. They have short, dense fur that is long enough to protect them and short enough to not get filled with dirt and weeds. They have triangular-shaped ears and a stubby tail. Wombats have short legs that have big claws on them to help them dig burrows. Since wombats are marsupials and have pouches, their pouches are faces backwards, towards their tails so the baby doesn't get hit with dirt when the mother starts digging. Wombats can grow up to 30 to 50 inches in length and can weigh between 30 lbs to 80 lbs. The heaviest wombat ever recorded was 88 lbs. 

Diet

Wombats are vegetarians that eat the plants that are in their territories. The plants include speas grass, snow tussocks, herbs, grass roots, shrubs, fungi, bark, bushes, moss, march plants, and leaves. Wombats prefer soft plants but they'll eat anything they can find. They can eat vegetables that are grown by humans. If there is a drought, then wombats will dig amongst the grasses to reach the grassy roots to eat. Wombats don't need to eat that much due to their slow metabolism. They don't spend lots of time searching for food. They don't spend lots of time searching for food Hairy-nosed wombats can go long periods without drinking water. Common wombats will seek out water to drink. 

Habitat

Wombats only live in Australia or Tasmania. They are mostly found along the southeastern coast in Australia, Tasmania, and Flinders Island. Wombats live in mountains and on flat lands for them to dig burrows. Nocturnal wombats sleep in their burrow during the day and then come out at night to eat. Wombats burrows are troublesome for farmers as they hurt their animals and the farmers try to move them or get rid of them.

Reproduction and Lifespan

Wombats mature at the age of two. Wombats don't have a specific breeding season. When females want to start breeding, they drop their poop cubes around the place they live to signal males in the area. Only the female will raise her baby. Wombats are marsupials which means that females have a pouch that carry their babies once they are born. The gestation period is about 20 days and after they give birth to one single joey. Joeys are born the size of a jelly bean, tiny, and blind. They can't survive by themselves. Joeys will climb to their mothers pouch, it starts to come out and explore the world after 6 months of age. Wombats can live about 10 to 20 years in the wild and up to 30 years in captivity. 

Thank you for reading this article, I hope you enjoyed reading it and learned from it. Wombats are my favorite Australian animal and they are fascinating to research about. Please share this blog to your friends and family. Here is the link to my youtube channel and the video that goes with this blog. 

 

The Informative Zoologist