Wonderful Wombats!

International Wombat Day is October 22nd - the perfect reason to celebrate this amazing animal!

Silly the wombat (a stuffed animal) with The Worried Wombat by Amelia Cobb, illustrated by Sophy Williams.

Why are they wonderful? So many reasons...

1) They are well-known for this fact, but it is very funny. Wombats are the only animal that has cube-shaped poop. When they mark their territory with poo, it doesn't roll off of rocks or flat surfaces.

2) Wombats are marsupials, but their pouches face backwards! This makes it so the baby can't get dirt or dust tossed in its face when the mama is digging; they are excellent diggers and create burrows for protection (and snuggling?).

3) Wombats are docile, sweet and largely nocturnal. In Dreamtime (the time of Australian aboriginal legends; also called The Dreaming) stories, the wombat is portrayed as wise and resilient, which makes sense, since a group of wombats is called a wisdom.

4) Their closest living relative is the koala. Like the koala, wombats are marsupials, endemic to Australia. There are three species of wombat; Bare-nosed wombat, Southern hairy-nosed wombat and Northern hairy-nosed wombat. All are adorable!

Silly the wombat (A stuffed animal) with an illustration of Australia in Maps of the World by Enrico Lavagno

5) Wombats need help! All three species need care and support. The Northern hairy- nosed wombat is critically endangered on the IUCN list. Thankfully, there are places, such as Sleepy Burrows Wombat Sanctuary and amazing people like Donna Stepan (known as the Wombat Whisperer) who help these sweet creatures.

6) For a book about wombat rescue, I highly recommend Welcome, Wombat by Kama Einhorn from the True Tales of Rescue series which features stories, photos, and information (in a cute, semi-fictional format) about wombats and wombat care (at Sleepy Burrows).

7) They are fuzzy, fluffy and so, so, cute!

8) Wombats look like very cuddle-friendly but they are surprisingly big. An adult wombat can weigh between 55-88 pounds and grow up to 3 feet long.

9) Playful and inquisitive, wombats are very territorial, but they are herbivores! They eat rocks (Like chickens, ostriches, and even some types of fish!) to aid digestion.

10) The name "wombat" is an adaptation of the word from the Dharug language, spoken by the aboriginal Dharug people of what is now the Sydney area.

Silly the wombat (a stuffed animal) in a "burrow" of books (actually just packing paper...)

Wombat Picture Books! (and, a chapter book...)

All four of these are sweet and fun, and as usual, thanks to our wonderful local library for helping us have access to so many interesting books.

Wombat Walkabout by Carol Diggory Shields, illustrated by Sophie Blackall

Wombat Said Come In by Carmen Agra Deedy, illustrated by Brian Lies

Diary of a Baby Wombat (and the whole Diary of a Wombat series) by Jackie French, illustrated by Bruce Whatley

Witch & Wombat by Ashley Belote

The Worried Wombat by Amelia Cobb (from the Zoe's Rescue Zoo series), illustrated by Sophy Williams

There are so many reasons to celebrate every animal and we're grateful to Chris Mabe who started International Wombat day in 2005. Yesterday was National Reptile Awareness Day, and tomorrow is National Mole Day AND International Snow Leopard Day, so whenever you read this, enjoy the wombat and celebrate ALL animals.