@juliedduncan yes indeed and we call that 'koala sign' - so if we are in the bush surveying to find out if koalas live in an area, the first thing we are looking for (besides hoping to see an actual koala) is those little holes and actual scratch marks on the tree trunks :) (my trees have some impressive koala sign!)
@kchuk nope, as it turns out, though I didn't know it for sure at the moment of taking this photo - Racee has left Smokey here in her favourite tree. He has now been here 3 days along, so suddenly Smokey is growing right up. I'm thrilled that she left Smokey on the property so we get to watch this juvenile grow on up.
@craftymeg healthy koalas as a rule don't fall out of trees. Sick ones sadly can become weak and fall. Fighting koalas attempt to throw each other from the tree and sometimes succeed.
Sometimes in a storm even a healthy koala can come down with broken tree limbs. Sadly if they are more than 10 metres up, a fall is often fatal. But the good news is that it does not happen often!
It is so fun to see the crazy positions the seem to land in (although I read tomorrow's post before seeing this so I know what's going on here!). It looks like Smokey was trying to get hold of the tree and just slid right down into this little "seat". It makes you wonder too what Smokey must be thinking- time to grow up but Mum's favorite tree- I guess it takes a few days before they process it all and start getting on with life.
Ian
Sometimes in a storm even a healthy koala can come down with broken tree limbs. Sadly if they are more than 10 metres up, a fall is often fatal. But the good news is that it does not happen often!