A hidden camera catches three unlikely roommates
Stop me if you’ve heard this one: Zoology students at the University of Melbourne, studying the diversity of Australian wildlife, set up a camera outside a burrow in hopes of filming a wombat in the wild. Well, if diversity was what they were after, that’s what they got, because the burrow was visited by a wombat, a koala, and a rabbit — all in the same night! The students think the paths of the three animals never actually crossed, because wombat burrows have multiple rooms.
Wait…so what’s the punchline?
No soap, radio!
I’ve read that desert tortoises and rattlesnakes sometimes share burrows. The snake gets a nicer burrow than it could have dug for itself, while the tortoise gets a security system with built-in alarm.
On the flip side, badgers and coyotes sometimes team up to hunt. The badger digs at the main entrance of whatever burrowing critter they’re after, while the coyote chases down anything fleeing out the back door. Then they share the haul.
I like animal buddy stories a lot.
Whales and dolphins apparently ‘corral” fish together for seafood binges.
Snakes must get really creative to be able to dig a hole for themselves (or team up with tortoises) without paws. I guess being eternally slim comes at a price.
I’m always a little nervous when I check the videos from the game cameras we have set up on our property, knowing how many animals use the same trails (coyotes and bunnies, for example, often within minutes of each other). I have a feeling eventually I’m going to get a video I don’t want to see. 😛
It uses infrared to record at night, and once I was watching a night-time video of a deer happily munching on grass when I saw two glowing eyes a little ways behind it. I was yelling “Look out! It’s behind you!” before I realized it was just another deer that wasn’t close enough to the camera for me to see anything but the eyes. Whew!
Oh yes I can relate to the fear of seeing the circle of life being enacted on video! I would like to hold fast to my scenario where all the creatures are mellow and gentle. Like Disney characters. No hunter, no prey.
The closest I’ve gotten is a fairly harrowing video of a black bear attempting to destroy one of the stealth cams. (Pro tip: wash your hands and use gloves when attaching the camera to a tree.) I’ll tell ya, I almost couldn’t go back into that section of the property after seeing that one.
So three species can share a narrow underground tunnel but one species can’t share a four-lane highway.
Luff all these critters. It’s like Three’s Company for animals.
Ok.. sooo now — Who is Jack, Janet and Chrissy?!
I just want to knock on their door.
They’ve been waiting for you!
But do you want to dance on their floor?
“Is it because we’ve got a lovable space that needs your face…? “
Boy, is that wombat going to be embarrassed–caught on hidden camera scratching his itchy bum!
That was adorable. I laughed every time they did it!
I’ve noticed that there’s a whole lotta scratching goin’ on at Sleepy Burrows.