Wombats

Wombats

I have lived in Kilmore for almost forty years and have not before seen wombats in the town area. There have been plenty out in the surrounding hills, but none close to the urban areas.

Last week, I was driving to the station at about 7.30 in the morning when a wombat trotted across the road from the adjacent racecourse and made its way into a flowery garden. I was a little surprised but the wombat seemed to know exactly where it was going..

The next day I was out for my walk at about 9.30, not too far from  town. I was walking along the Number Two  Creek, funny name isn't it. The creek is at the bottom of quite a steep gully, about five kilometres to the west of Kilmore. I out looking to see whatever birds were up and about. In the rushes I could hear a lot of noise and I supposed it might be a fox returning late from his nightly jaunt.

I stood still and waited a moment and  then I saw, sitting in the patch of sun outside a large burrow, two large wombats. Wombats are nocturnal animals so it is quite unusual to see them sitting out in the sunlight. 


I think wombats might be hard of hearing because  although I made a lot of noise coming through the thick, creek side growth, they hadn't noticed me at all. As well as being hard of hearing, I think wombats must be short sighted in strong sunlight. At least  these seemed to be.


Eventually I had to move and the two, moving very quickly for such round creatures, disappeared into one of the several burrows in the area.

About an hour or two later, on my return from my walk, I came across wombats once again, more of, or the same ones, I am not sure. One seemed to be an older fellow, he  was walking determinedly to wherever it was he was going. He was following a well used track and was striding along very quickly in the open. He eventually disappeared around a bend in the track.

I heard another wildlife observer say recently, that he thought the wild things were beginning to return to the towns. We certainly see many kangaroos, wallabies, hares, foxes birds, echidnas and  now wombats in and about our gardens now.