the scent gland on a male koalas chest produces a smelly, oily substance that they use to rub onto the trunks of trees to mark their territory.
thank you all for putting Jordan on the TP yesterday and for all the interest and comments, I read every one and appreciate them
koalas have a very keen sense of smell
they can tell quickly if the scent of another male is very fresh or old, and they can tell by the scent how strong a male he is
the scent warns other males that they are entering someone's territory, and in particular favourite trees are marked
just like dogs will mark with urine over the spot another has marked, I've seen younger males mark a tree, then the next day one of the alpha males will be in that tree ... we humans don't really have much of a clue of even half the information koalas are sharing with each other when all they seem to be doing is sleeping!
Lovely light and this handsome little man! Thanks again for the fascinating information! When I chuckled at the end, Ken wanted to know what I was reading, so I read it aloud to him as well!
