Kicking the bag habit...

Pepi and I are now friends, and I'm showing her the ropes in the Big Wild. I had been concerned as she was reluctant to give up the comforts of our foster home and really wasn't getting on with being a proper wombat. As this video shows, she was - until last week - still trying to get into a makeshift pouch - one the size of a pillow case! I've now got her in hand, and she is suitably muddy and rugged. Hello earthy burrows and grass - bye bye carrots, cuddles, and soft pouches.

The sweet taste of freedom

This is an image of Pepi taken today after her first night of freedom aged 16 months and weighing approx 10kg. Her Mums found her this morning in a favourite hollow tree a couple of hundred metres from her pen. She was not shall we say looking her best, but then again I'm a fine one to talk as I sport a muddy look most of the time - it goes with the territory. Pepi gladly followed her Mums back to the pen for a good day's sleep, ready for the excitement of another night.

I'm not sure it's such a good development as Pepi was straight round to my pen last night to raid my grass pellets. Guess it's time for those to stop anyway, as I've been out and about since mid June. Initially it was scary, but now I'm really at home in the wild and move from burrow to burrow as the mood and the weather takes me. No doubt I'll be seeing Pepi on my travels, and who knows, maybe one day we'll have a romantic liaison....

Into the big wild ... and back

Sunday was a beautiful calm sunny day. I felt wild and wanted to be free, so when I was taken for my early morning walk I dashed into a thick patch of bracken and laid low. I heard my Mums calling me throughout the day, but I was enjoying myself so I ignored them. When night fell I got scared and hungry so I snuck back to my enclosure and found a new flap which allowed me to get to my food bowl and my cozy bed. Since then I've decided to stick close to Mums, and even try to get on to their laps for an extra cuddle - perhaps I'm not quite ready yet for the big wild.

Who's the cutest?

Excuse me Chester -this is Pepi by the way - I see you've posted a threat on your blog. Well I have to ask your followers if that's deserved or fair, and whether in fact I am the cutest of them all?

Love is....

...deceptive. By striking up this cutesy pose with Chino, I thought I had the perfect cover for creating a large puddle under the dining room table. However, when we got up, for some unknown reason he didn't get the blame.

Up Close and Personal

Somewhat unconventional shots, but then its not everyday you get this close to one of my kind:

This is my right front paw, all ready for burrowing when I get outside.

This is my left back paw, complete with miniature thumb. I love grooming, so every time I wake up I have a jollly good scratch, including my tail, which I can reach with my back paw!

My 1cm tail, and yes I am upside down, which is how I like to hang out in the pouch.

A Sorry Tail

Meet Chino, the incredibly tolerant 6 year old Lab/Collie cross who lives in my new household. He doesn't seem to mind when I romp around his bed, jump over him, bite him, and even pull the furr out of his tail. He seems quite amused by my antics, and has become quite motherly towards me.

I'm bushed

Here's me having brekky - about 65mls of special formula milk, with the same again in the evening. I look quite sweet, but that's because I've just spent the last two hours wearing myself out roaring around the house ripping at the carpet edges, bulldozing the dog, and generally making a nuisance of myself.

Chester's Debut Blog

Hi, I'm Chester wombat. I live in Tasmania (that Island Under Down Under), where, since my mother was killed by a car in mid October, I am being raised by two humans . This is me when I arrived at my new home weighing in at 1500g. Since then I've been guzzling special formula milk and have put on a kilo. I generally feed morning and evening, and enjoy toying with some grass in between. Normally speaking by this age (approx 8 months) I would have been spending the day at my mother's heels, hopping back into the pouch at the hint of danger, or if I just wanted to sleep, feed or warm up. Instead, I spend alot of time following my human mums around the house, hopping into a man made pouch in a sling when I'm tired, and sleeping in a blanket box at night, where I have learned to use a litter tray. In a few weeks I shall be transferred gradually to a new enclosure outside, where I will live until I am about eighteen months old, at which point I will be released to the wild again. I will be able to return to this temporary home any time I want, and will probably drop in from time to time to visit my foster mums.