My close encounter with a koala (but not in a zoo)

A koala sighting in the wild is as rare as a good hair day for Donald Trump.

Having read that there were more koalas than you can poke a stick at in Mt Eccles, I had great hopes of seeing these cute creatures when I was there recently.

I spent a couple of hours exploring, all the time keeping my eyes out for cuddlesome balls of fur hugging a tree.

Alas, there was not a single koala to be seen.

But a chance turnoff onto a less-travelled road changed my luck later that day.

All looked calm on the straight stretch as Steve and I chased the evening’s soft veil of light.

Spotting a bump in the distance, we slowed down.

To our amazement, it was a chubby koala smack in the middle of the road.

It looked dazed and blurry-eyed as if it had just woken up. I carefully approached to take a photo.

Looking dazed and in mid-thought, Kooky Koala was in no hurry to cross the road.

Just when I thought the koala would saunter across to the other side, suddenly it turned, gambolled in the opposite direction and shot up a wattle tree.

The koala clung to a branch and “posed” for me as I stood under the tree making “awww” murmurs in between camera clicks.

“Thank you, little guy”, I whispered as I returned to the car.

It looked at me, then turned its gaze towards clumps of eucalyptus trees not far away.

Koalas are excellent tree huggers.

Koalas are naturally photogenic. I mean, have you ever seen an ugly koala?

Here are six koala facts you may not know: (Source: https://www.savethekoala.com/about-koalas/interesting-facts)

• Koalas love a good kip, often up to 20 hours a day. They spend most of their time sleeping because they need to conserve lots of energy digesting their toxic and fibrous diet of eucalyptus leaves.
• Koalas have five digits on each front paw, two thumb-like. This helps them to hold firmly onto the branches and to grip their food. Two digits on their hind paws fuse together to form a grooming claw for removing ticks, for example.

Image source: https://www.savethekoala.com/

• A mature male koala has a brown scent gland in the centre of its chest which it rubs on the tree trunk to mark its territory.

Image source: https://www.savethekoala.com/

• Koala is thought to mean ‘no drink’ in the Aboriginal language. Koalas normally get all the moisture they need from eucalyptus leaves except when in extreme dry conditions.
• Like humans, koalas are the only other animal that have individual fingerprints.
• Koalas are sensitive around their abdominal area and need something to grip onto when being picked up.  Because it is accustomed to gripping onto branches with its front paws, a koala  should not be picked up under the arms like a toddler. This makes it feel uncomfortable and vulnerable.