I can officially say that Smokey and Racee have separated and Smokey has been left on the property hooray! 3 days not Smokey has been in this large tree (one of Racee's favourite trees) alone.
Racee has now either given birth again, or probably already had another joey in pouch. Either way, she needs to concentrate on her fourth joey and let her third joey become independent.
All I can hope now is to get a clear shot and say once and for all whether Smokey is a boy or girl - we have really been kept guessing a long time on this one!
You can tell by the tones and sky in this image that we are still under a blanket of smoke here as bush fires still rage over so much of the country.
@30pics4jackiesdiamond yes they are, and their long incisors can do a lot of damage too. Their fur is so thick however that even those claws don't really get through on the body. their main fighting strategy is to try and throw the other koala out of the tree 😱 So mostly the claws are used to climb about in the trees ...
so............................... they are quite a bit smaller than they look due to thick fur?? Also surely tthey get very very hot with all that insulation?? (sorry for clogging feed with questions!)
@30pics4jackiesdiamond oh questions are highly encouraged! :) Smokey at present is around 2.2 kg I would guess. Racee, the mum is around 6.5 so about 3 times bigger.
Insulation works by controlling temperature - so that means holding warmth in during cold weather, and preventing too much heat getting through in the hot weather.
However, of course they get hot in the summer, and they use a few strategies - one is to lay as much of their front body as possible against a thick trunk, especially how you saw Smokey in 'splat' yesterday. The tree trunks remain surprisingly cold and give relief quite fast as the blood being cooled quickly reaches the internal organs.
Another strategy is to drape themselves with extremities hanging and their hands and feet held very open. This cools the blood sending it back into the deep body at a lower temperature. (think of the relief of putting your feet in water in the hot weather).
And finally when it's really hot and dry, they get low in dense shrubs where it is coolest.
They do not pant or sweat.
Koalas rarely drink free water, and even when they do it's in small amounts. So they have to cool without releasing moisture like we would by sweating, or a dog would by panting.
Hope that fascinated you and you probably find as I do that every answer opens up a bunch of new questions ;)
Insulation works by controlling temperature - so that means holding warmth in during cold weather, and preventing too much heat getting through in the hot weather.
However, of course they get hot in the summer, and they use a few strategies - one is to lay as much of their front body as possible against a thick trunk, especially how you saw Smokey in 'splat' yesterday. The tree trunks remain surprisingly cold and give relief quite fast as the blood being cooled quickly reaches the internal organs.
Another strategy is to drape themselves with extremities hanging and their hands and feet held very open. This cools the blood sending it back into the deep body at a lower temperature. (think of the relief of putting your feet in water in the hot weather).
And finally when it's really hot and dry, they get low in dense shrubs where it is coolest.
They do not pant or sweat.
Koalas rarely drink free water, and even when they do it's in small amounts. So they have to cool without releasing moisture like we would by sweating, or a dog would by panting.
Hope that fascinated you and you probably find as I do that every answer opens up a bunch of new questions ;)
Ian