Tick

If I hadn't known better, I would also think that THAT is an obese koala. Thank you Wes for such an apt description on Andrew's comment board. The similarity is indeed unmistakable, and that's because perhaps the koala is the closest "brother" to the wombat. A wombat? A wom-what?! Aren't those the creatures that hang upside down on creepy old trees or cave ceilings? Nope. Those are bats. They are definitely not kin. The wombat hasn't quite grown wings yet and is pretty hefty and heavy to be hanging and swinging itself on branches. These burrowing marsupials can grow quite big and can weigh up to 30kg. They're stubby, chunky, have sharp claws and incisors, and although they look slow, wombats can be nimble. Cute as they may appear, they can very well defend themselves with mighty headbutts! Australia is so far from everywhere else (except for New Zealand) that its native animals have evolved to be quite unique and different from the rest of the world's.

Staying in a rented cottage in a farm during a trip to Lake Entrance, eastern Victoria, we had the luck to bump into and get introduced to Tick - the cuddly piece of meat on the picture. At that time, she was around two months old. Wombats are born to be in the wild, they're not usually kept as pets. But in Tick's case, its mother was found on the road, shot, with little Tick still inside its pouch. The owner of the farm brought it home and nursed it to health. Tick follows the farm owner's daughter M around as if she's the mother, it'd roll and rub itself on the grass and scratch itself with the hind legs. She loves the attention and would let people carry and cuddle her, she's obviously been tamed. However, she is still a wombat, not meant to be confined in human homes nor remain unfamiliar of the wild. In no time, she'll have to be introduced back to the wild; she'd have to find a mate and go back to its natural lifestyle. Tick is already being taught how to search for food, as there will be no filled-up bowl waiting for her when she is released. M spent hours and hours bent on all fours, with Tick under her, teaching and training her to graze on grass and shrubs and dig to find roots. She is encouraged to practise headbutting to defend herself. Hopefully when the time comes, she'll be ready.