The Wombat
The wombat is a marsupial that digs burrows. It is about 1 metre long from nose to tail, the tail being only a couple of centimetres long. An adult weighs about 25-35 kilograms. Wombats are the largest burrowing mammals. A wombat is covered with coarse grey or brown fur, with a large head, a large nose and small ears. It is solidly built, with large claws for digging. Its body has a rounded appearance. Its back is hard and bony. This bony back is a useful defence against intruders in the burrow, as the wombat uses its back to crush them against the burrow wall.
The wombat is nocturnal, which means it is active at night, eating grasses, roots and shrubs. It stays in a burrow in daytime, though sometimes can be seen basking in the sun at the burrow entrance. It lives alone, except for a female with young.
The wombat is nocturnal, which means it is active at night, eating grasses, roots and shrubs. It stays in a burrow in daytime, though sometimes can be seen basking in the sun at the burrow entrance. It lives alone, except for a female with young.
Some people just don't care!
I live out in the country and some of my roads are dirt and you usually see wildlife about, anyway on my way to work this morning I passed a wombat on one of these dirt roads. Someone must have hit last night and just left it there. I drove up beside it and the poor thing was still alive shivering from shock. I don't know how badly injured it was but I did notice blood on the side of its head, apart from its faint breathing I say he was in the last stages of death. I felt helpless and knew I just couldn't drive off so I turned around and headed home, moments like these I felt I should have obtained a gun licence and bought a gun, but the thought of having a gun around would make me uneasy. I knew a neighbour that would willingly help this poor fellow out, so I rang the neighbour and picked him up and we drove back to the wombat and put him out of suffering.
It makes me angry sometimes when people don't care or want go out of there way to do the right thing. I know sometimes accidents happen when animals run out on the road and I know and have killed an animal instead of running off the road trying to avoid them. But to leave an injured or dying animal on the road is not right to my thinking.
2 comments:
Poor little wombat.
Sounds like you are a very compassionate person. The world needs more people like you.
So sad for you and the wombat.
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