ANIMALS OF AUSTRALIA

Welcome, now, to the land down under.
An amazing land filled with much wonder.
Today we’ll discover some animals here.
What to expect if your a sightseer.

Our most popular mammal everyone’s heard of,
A darling mammal that all do love.
Of course I refer to the Kangaroo,
An Aussie icon, through and through.
To travel about he does not stop,
Up to fifteen feet in just one hop.
With his powerful legs and very large size
In a boxing match he would win first prize.
Living in large groups called a mob,
The males protect, that is their job.
They travel about with joey in pouch,
His cuteness your heart will melt – for that I can vouch.
They nibble on grass, leaves and flowers,
Then sleep in the shade for hours and hours.

For the next little mammal you must look up,
You may not notice until closeup.
They sleep all day in the heights of the trees,
Relaxing – not stressing – their life’s one of ease.
Each day they munch on a kilo of Eucalyptus leaves,
But fussy they are - a few special species only do please.
Their thick woolly fur is reddish brown or grey,
And it feels rather coarse to the touch I must say.
Their joeys do move from pouch to mum’s back,
Here on the leaves they now learn to snack.
Water they don’t really need much to drink,
From their food they get enough they think.
Koalas are nocturnal, they come out at night,
Yes sometimes you may hear them grunt as they fight.

Now here in Australia there can be found
A very large bird that runs on the ground,
At speeds of thirty miles per hour,
And six feet tall, above you may tower.
The Emu of course is of what I speak,
His got a long neck and a very sharp beak.
Three toes and a talon of each of his feet
Help him to fight should a predator he meet.
They are known to swim, themselves to cool,
So they may just join you in the pool.
Eggs they lay, when a nest it seeks,
Then the male does sit for around eight weeks.
Now with his food, eating rocks combines,
This he does as his food he grinds.
He eats food of all different kinds,
An omnivore – eating whatever he finds.

Next we’ll discuss Australia’s Wombat,
Cute little nose, furry and fat.
Hairy-nose wombats live in colonies.
But bare-nose wombats alone more commonly.
With strong front teeth and powerful claws,
He digs out his burrow just using his paws.
The burrow can be a meter long,
Digging his home all day long.
They forage for food yes only at night,
Their herbivore diet suits them just right.

In the bush you may come across
A small Echidna – he will show you who’s boss.
When predators attack he curls in a ball,
Exposing his spines – yes one and all.
You may be familiar with his long snout,
Useful for ants and termites sniffing out.
A mammal laying eggs is very rare,
This with the Platypus is something they share.
The Echidna you’ll find has no teeth,
But his long sticky tongue catches ants from beneath.

A Dingo has a long bushy tail
Yes like a wolf he does make a wail.
A wild dog with big teeth and pointy ears,
Hunting at night, far away he hears.
He lives alone or in a pack up to ten,
He eats mainly meat but berries and fruit now and then.
A litter consists of up to ten pups,
Who need help being raised by all the grown-ups.
Their coat is quite short but soft is their fur,
In golden, reddish or light brown can occur.

These are a few of the animal sights.
Some of the interesting facts and highlights.
Australia is large and really quite diverse,
There are many more about which we could converse.
Perhaps later in another verse,
Some more information we can disperse.

Poem by Sourcherry
Photographs from Pixabay