Koalas and all things Pap

It’s been Koala Month this month.

Koalas look so soft and cuddly,

but they’re not.

Their fur is thick and coarse...

It smells from the eucalypt leaves

they eat all day.

Koala is an Aboriginal word

 for No Drink

It’s  appropriate for the Koala. 

All of it’s water comes

 from the leaves it eats. 

Koalas usually only drink water

during droughts or after bushfires.

Australia has over 600 types

 of eucalypt trees. 

That should keep the koalas happy...

but, no. 

 

They are fussy little things

and will only eat 40 – 50 varieties. 

The fussiest koalas prefer

to eat from only 10 varieties! 

They have a strong sense of smell

and know which tree

 has the leaves they like,

without having to climb

the trees to taste the leaves.

They can also smell the

poisonous leaves

and know to avoid them.

Their paws have rough pads

to help with climbing trees

and their long claws easily

grip the branches. 

They have two “thumbs”

on their front paws!

Males have a dirty brown stripe

down their chest. 

(I once thought that was

because they were not clean...

but, no) 

That’s their scent gland.

 They rub that up against the trees,

 letting all other koalas know

that the territory belongs to them. 

I used to wonder at how

koalas sit in the trees and

not feel uncomfortable... 

they have a thick bottom –

 which acts like a cushion!

They have a pretty tough life –

most of it is spent sleeping

and lazing about!

They sleep and rest for about

20 hours a day!

 (If they ate something more

nutritious than leaves,

they might have more energy!)

Koalas have babies called joeys.

They’re ugly little things,

at first.

A koala joey is about 2 cm long

and weighs less than a gram!

It’s pink, bald, blind and has no ears.

They are pretty amazing though...

using strong arms,

they use their sense of smell

and climb into their mother’s pouch. 

They suck onto a teat,

which then swells,

trapping the baby koala.

And weirdly enough,

the mother contracts her strong

 sphincter muscles

at the opening of the pouch,

 to stop the joey from

falling out of the pouch.

Once it’s big enough,

it eats pap.

 That sounds fair enough –

but pap is faeces...

specialised faeces,

 but faeces none-the-less!

Female koalas usually

 live longer than males. 

The reason...

females are usually content

to rest up in the trees. 

The males... 

they have to strut their stuff!

They travel further,

looking for females

and running the risk

of meeting dogs and cars. 

They also fight more!

They’re an odd little animal...

a smelly one, too...

...But,

 September is Koala Month,

So... to celebrate...

... Maybe we could all

try to find a koala

and have a taste of that pap!

Or not!

There’s heaps more Koala information here.