Today is World Wombat Day and a little way back I shared some popular Australian children’s books based on these special marsupials. Go here : https://brizzymaysbooksandbruschettasite.wordpress.com/2020/05/12/wombats/
Firstly, five fascinating Wombat facts :
- Wombats are stocky and close to the ground. That does not stop them from running at speeds up to 40 kilometres per hour which is just under retired sprinter Usain Bolt’s fastest recorded speed.
- A group of wombats is called a ‘wisdom of wombats’ a ‘mob of wombats’ or a ‘colony of wombats’.
- The name wombat comes from the Darug language, spoken by the Traditional Owners of Sydney.
- The southern hairy-nosed wombat is the state fauna emblem of South Australia. And my favourite :
- Wombat poop is different to any other animal’s, because wombats are famous for doing cube shaped poop– pumping out around 100 of these a day. It’s all to do with their slow digestive system.
In recent months I’ve shared my developing interest in Aboriginal Astronomy and related artwork. Our indigenous could tell the weather for food finding purposes by watching the night skies. For example, moon haloes, or rings around the moon, are used by Aboriginal people as a weather predictor since ice crystals indicate high moisture levels in the atmosphere.

Many of the Dreamtime legends are depicted in the stars.
Here’s Ngarga warendj, the dancing wombat by artist, Mick Harding.

” Warriin the Wombat is a solitary fella. He is a vegetarian who spends most of the day in his burrow and feeds at night. In our Taungwarrung creation stories, Warriin and Marram the Kangaroo were good mates. One day they had a fight because Warriin would not let Marram into his burrow. Marram cut off Warriin’s tail with his axe. Warriin was so mad he threw a spear at Marram and this became stuck in his back end and is now his tail”.
– Mick Harding of the Yowong-Illam-Baluk clan.
💗
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Thank you so much for this post, and for the memories it brings back. Almost exactly 5 years ago to the day we set off on our first, and only, visit to Australia. We spent most of our time in Tassie, and loved it there. Wombats were a highlight of our visit, and I was so taken with the shape of their poo that, in my blog of the trip, I christened the critter ‘The King of Cubes’. Happy memories!
Incidentally, I love the two images you’ve used to illustrate this post.
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My first trip to Tassie was forty years ago and I was devastated by the amount of wombat roadkill. My fondest memory is up in Cradle Mountain, Tassie, where a wombat was crawling out of his burrow through the snow. Absolute magic!
The second image is a broach I purchased as a fundraiser for a Wombat Sanctuary. It really is cool.
Have a beaut day 🙂
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I Knew that there was a reason today should be a holiday!
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The days excuse for coffee and cake!
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I love wombats.
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One of the best things about visiting Tasmania is the abundance of wombats. The Ever Lovin’ used to have them on the farm in Swansea.
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I always learn something new!! I’m guessing from the story of creation, the wombat is not a very friendly sort and prone to fits of violence… I don’t think I’d want to try to pet one!!
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They do come across like that Muri, though there is an organisation in South Australia that offers orphaned/homeless/sick wombats sanctuary and where the creatures play like puppies. I adore them : gorgeous creatures 🙂
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Thanks for all the fascinating wombat facts May. Their day of the year should be more widely publicised
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Wonderful creatures. I believe, from media reports, that there is also a wombat sanctuary in Qld. Do you know anything about this?
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Not heard about that, but I have seen the wombats at Currumbin wildlife sanctuary
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Haven’t been there for thirty years! Too many tourists.
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Definitely changed since then. We don’t go now a days.
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