leniram

I know this is a funny topic. But somehow, one of our primary reasons why we visit OZ, are those endearing animals.

Which is ur pick and why?

Mine is the cute Wombat. Furry and cute. It looks like a soft toy.

Another is quokka. Friendly and strange looking.

Neil_Oz

I'll vote for the echidna - one of the only two monotremes (egg-laying mammals) on Earth, I think. Now and again we come across one snuffling around while walking the dog in the bush a few minutes walk from our house in Canberra. The dog is always interested and stops to inspect the strange beast. When the echidna realises that it's under observation it plays dead, the dog loses interest and so do we.

I can see why people would have a soft spot for wombats. A local writer who raised one from babyhood found that it made an endearing pet, except for the fact that when it wanted to come into the house it didn't recognise a screen door as an obstacle - just walked straight through it.

Don't get the idea that all Australian marsupials are cute, though. A fully grown male kangaroo can kill dogs and potentially humans too. I give them a wide berth. And I can tell you that possums can inflict a nasty bite.

Compared with their foreign counterparts Australian marsupials are actually pretty stupid, the result of having few predators until recently, "recently" meaning the last 40,000 years or so, when humans first arrived here.

pat_woolford

Without a shadow of doubt; native parrots. Huge variety over the country; these birds are clever both in the wild and in captivity. I will never forget a corella which alighted on the guttering of my house, swinging upsidedown by one toe, I said "hello cocky" (as you do) and he calmly said "hello darling".

Mucky

Duck Billed Platypus has always been my favourite, ever since I was a child ( 2 years ago) lol

Muck

longhorn55

I love all the Australian animals and we were lucky to see most of them in the wild when we lived in Canberra, either at Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve, Namadgi National Park or even our own neighborhood. Unfortunately, the only Australian animal I never saw in the wild was my favorite--the wombat. However, when we were up in Thredbo one summer, a ranger released a baby wombat for a little walk near us. He explained that the baby's mother had been killed and they were gradually getting the baby used to being out in the wild so they could release it when it got older. The baby was all grey and they had named it "Smudge". Smudge waddled between my legs as I was talking to the ranger and it was such a thrill!

Tassietwister

Young wombats are too cute for words. We saw one also raised by human at Symbio wildlife park called Sebastian. he followed the keeper around like a lost puppy. So cute.

Pat, lol funny story.

At the moment we are entralled by an univited house guest. A leaf shaped gecko. Amazing looking.

The most amazing must be the platypus though because really it shouldn't exist according to many textbooks. Like a but.... there are excetpions to the rule.

Bokhara

My "Amazing!" vote goes to the Thorny Devil. Saw one at the Desert Park in Alice Springs last year & was fascinated.
http://www.australiannature.com/pict...ornydevil.html

Neil_Oz

longhorn, we took a drive down to Tidbinbilla today. Much of the pine forest was destroyed by the 2002 bushfires, and of course they don't regrow like native species, so there are large stretches of desolation. Much of the wildlife was killed off by the fires, but re-stocking is well under way, beginning with Lucky, a female koala who was found badly burned and nursed back to health. Reminded me of the ad published in a country newspaper some years ago:

Lost, blue heeler cattledog. Three legs, one ear chewed off, blind in one eye, bullet wound scar on flank. Answers to 'Lucky'.

fuzzylogic

I'm partial to all of them - especially the common as muck (even in the inner city) sulphur crested cockatoo. I know they can be pests - I know they tell their friends when they've found a particularly tasty, edible, part of your house. But still - they have star quality.

And then there are the folk who go to Test Matches dressed as kangaroos or wombats, or with green wigs.

leniram

Your votes:

Wombat = 2
Quokka = 1
Echidna = 1
Native parrots = 1
Platypus = 2
Thorny devil = 1 (never seen this before. thanks for sharing it, Bokhara.)

nevets

Hi leniram

Can I vote for Joey Kangaroos.

I grew up out in the country and many years ago when I was a kid we had one as a pet for a short while. We met it's mother late one night while driving and she didn't survive, unfortunately.

We brought the Joey home and reared it with a milk bottle and a teat until it grew a bit and my mother refused to have chewing on the lounge any longer and we had to release it.

They're gorgeous little soft toy animals when they're babies but not very gorgeous or soft when they grow.

USNR

I've always been fascinated by the Australian Narrow-Eyed Yob.

He's never left Australia, never went beyond the third grade, knows and has tried every brand of beer, only watches sports shows on TV, wears black underwear, bathes infrequently, votes for John Howard, avoids anything foreign, dislikes immigrants, hits his wife on occasion, knows the shortest distance to any pub, has knobby knees, hairy legs, and laughs uproariously.

You'll love 'im!

Neil_Oz

"bathes infrequently"? Sounds like an introduced species, sometimes to be found driving taxis in Sydney and Melbourne on very hot days. I have observed the yob in its native habitat, but never at sufficiently close quarters to discern the colour of its underwear - USNR, I bow to your assiduous fieldwork.

johhj_au

The aussie"yob" is now an endangered species forced to the indignity of drinking wine at the SCG because the powers that be won't serve full strength beer.

Peteralan

Endangered they may be but I fancy some were seen recently at Cronulla beach?

tropo

Yobos endangered - no way, a lot live here in Qld. Drink loads of XXXX beer or Bundy Rum, then drive a ute or 4WD whilst intoxicated, causing death & mayhem on the roads (we have the worst road death toll in Australia, I believe). They still wear stubbie shorts, have lots of tats over the major portion of the body, long hair with a rats tail, have trouble putting a sentence together, and want to fight anyone who disagrees with them.
All jokes aside, I must say that on our last trip to Europe, I was disappointed when I overhead two Australian couples (travelling together) constantly whinge about everything they tasted/drank or saw in Dubai, and kept referring to the food & beer back home being much better.
I tend to cringe when I hear fellow Australians talking like that, so I wander outside their talking range, and start up a conversation with people from other parts of the world.

Neil_Oz

And another thing - "has tried every brand of beer"? I don't think so. Can you imagine a real yob drinking a wimpy Corona with a segment of lemon stuffed down its neck? Or even a Heineken? No better way to have your mates start questioning your sexual preferences, unless it's to be found sipping delicately from a glass of sauvignon blanc, or ("mwah!&quot air-kissing the ladies. No, VB has to be the tipple du jour.

Actually, I reckon Corona IS a bit wimpy. And don't you just hate those "mwah's"?

Tassietwister

Yobs only hate all immigrants that do not include "their best mate". We all know it....my best mate is ok, it is the rest of 'em' that are a problem!!

God bless them, I have such a soft spot for the Aussie Yob, the larrikin, the straight shooter, the one who after a few beers can solve all the problems on the earth. If they have some problem with one particular problem, well just hand them another beer and Bob's your uncle.

There are far worse people in this world but few so colourful. I am sad they are being evicted from our social landscape due to political correctness to be honest.

The best line of all

"You don't know what you are bloody talking about"

Amen

Bokhara

And, TT, frequently, they're right.

leniram

YOB Hmmm,.... Whats that?