Wombats, Echidnas, Quolls, and Other Weird Mammals

Tasmania is Australia’s smallest state, but it sure packs a punch in terms of wildlife.  In our first four days in Tasmania, we were introduced to a surprising number of weird  mammals!

Above is a picture of Mike and a wombat — one of many we saw at Cradle Mountain National Park in the northern part of Tasmania. This pudgy, grass-eating marsupial (animal that raises babies in a pouch) is found throughout Australia, but was obviously thriving in the national park and totally unconcerned about humans walking nearby!  We were surprised by its size, and also the incredibly loud noise it makes as it tears up the grass on which it feeds. (Watch and listen to a hungry wombat on this video!)

While in Cradle National Park we also were treated to the sight of an Echidna — one of Australia’s two monotremes (mammals that lay eggs).

With its spines it looks rather like a porcupine with big feet for digging burrows. Mike calls it the Aussie Hedgehog. I (Marsha) can only imagine what confusion was caused when European scientists tried to figure this one out — the echidna lays an egg into a pouch, and once the egg hatches, the baby echidna (called a puggle) laps up milk that is secreted through the echidna’s skin because it doesn’t have teats!   You can see a short video of the echidna here.

For the record, we saw this echidna as we scrambled up a rugged path to Marion’s Lookout along a path that has oversized steps and stretches where the park has kindly put in chains to help you navigate inclines of quite sheer rock. We’ve been working out at the gym for the last 4 moths, but that climb still gave us a good cardio workout — as wella s great views from the top.

View from the top of Marion’s Lookout

The view from Marion’s Lookout over Dove Lake and Crater Lake was astonishing. Apparently it is unusual to have quite such clear weather – there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and we could see miles in every direction.

Despite our tired legs after climbing back down from Marion’s Lookout, we decided to finish the day with a visit to the “Devils@Cradle” conservation area. This is a site dedicated to preserving, breeding, and releasing into the wild the iconic Tasmanian Devil and its smaller relatives, the Quolls.

A Tasmanian Devil — so called because of its loud hissing screech and its ferocity when feeding. 

Tasmanian Devils feeding on chunks of wallaby meat. 

The spotted quoll — also a meat eating marsupial, but only about the size of a large squirrel. 

Both Devils and Quolls are meat-eating marsupials. The breeding program is needed because habitat loss and feral cats and dogs have reduced numbers.  However, the even greater threat to the Devils is a form of cancer that is passed from one Devil to another through biting, which is how they create hierarchy when their territories overlap. This Devil Facial Tumour Disease has decimated the population, reducing it by up to 80% since it was discovered in 1996. There is no cure, but it is hoped that by breeding enough healthy, non-infected devils and releasing them into the wild in areas where there is a lower population of devils (and thus less chance of them biting each other), the population decline can be halted.

It was fascinating to learn more about the Tasmanian Devils, including the incredible fact that the female gives birth to up to 60 tiny babies, each about the size of a grain of rice, and these babies compete with each other within the marsupial pouch until the four strongest attach themselves to the teats!

On our fourth day in Tasmania we stayed with Quaker friends in the small rural town of Scottsdale in Northeastern Tasmania. We were regaling them with tales of the various animals we had seen and bemoaning that we had not yet seen a platypus. “Oh, we see them all the time down in the irrigation pond,” said Phil. We drove down the road the next morning and stopped by an irrigation pond and sure enough, within three minutes we saw the platypus! We were both surprised by how small it was — too small and too quick to get any decent photo. The face reminded us of a duck, with its broad bill, but it was incredibly agile in the water, diving in a curving motion reminiscent of an otter. We watched it, fascinated, for about 15 minutes. Again, we can’t help but feel sorry for the scientists in 1799 who first tried to classify this egg-laying, beaver-tailed, otter-like animal that eats worms, larvae and shrimp that it finds by sensing electrical currents through its duck-shaped bill, and has venomous spurs on its back legs!

Below (for your edification) is Marsha’s picture of the pond, with a tiny blob in the middle that is the platypus, and a picture from wikipedia that gives a much better idea of what we saw!

A blurry photo of a platypus!