This little creature is so cute it could star in its own Disney film.
Many of you may not have heard of Quokkas. (WordPress helpfully highlights the word as a typo.) They’re a marsupial found only in Western Australia and primarily on Rottnest Island. A Dutch naval captain gave the island its name because he thought the animals were rats.
The photo below is my first one of a quokka. I had dumped my backpack on a bus stop bench and turned to look for the bus. Turning back, I exclaimed “Jesus Christ!” in the shock of seeing this guy, who had certainly not been there 10 seconds earlier. I quickly snapped a pic with no attempt at artistry, thinking it would dash off at any moment, and was quite pleased with myself for having captured it.
Little did I know the quokka would come closer …
… and closer …
… and then rear up and thrust its face against the lens so quickly that I had no time to refocus.
Here you get a better idea of quokka body shape. Definitely a hopper with those hind legs.
They are curious animals, and those in the settlement on Rottnest Island are very, very accustomed to people.
This one is doing a spot of dress shopping. It paid no attention to the people passing within a foot or two of it, or to the phone cameras thrust in its face, or even to the people who stroked it.
They are so at ease with people, in fact, that many shops have installed gates to keep them out!
They are so cute! What do they eat?
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Plants, I believe — leaves and shoots. Despite all the signs people do feed them human food, which is not good for them.
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Yes, I know. They also get accustomed to being fed and then find it more difficult to look after the food themselves.
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Great shots; and what a cool little creature. I had heard of quokka but had no idea what they looked like!!
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I was not sure of their appearance either. I didn’t expect cute!
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Just like hoppity squirrels. But different! 🙂 🙂
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Long-legged hamsters, perhaps? 🙂
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Maybe …. not sure I’m seeing squirrel or hamster!
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😦 😦
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First of all thank you for visiting my blog 🙂 When I saw in the email notification that you’d written a post about quokkas I just had to come over and check it out. I first found out about these little animals several years ago when watching Billy Connelly’s tv series World Tour Of Australia in which he went to Rottnest Island, and it reinforced my (sadly unachievable) dream of touring your country to see the wildlife.
I would have said that quokkas were like mini wallabies but facially they look very much like the rock hyrax found in various parts of Africa – in the more tourist areas people are discouraged from feeding them as they can give a very nasty bite even though they look cute. Maybe quokkas were originally a cross between species but whatever they are they’re certainly cute, and your photos are great 🙂
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It’s a shame you can’t visit Australia and see the various unusual wildlife for yourself. I had to Google ‘rock hyrax’, and I see what you mean — though those hyraxes have some sharp teeth! Thanks for the visit.
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