Their bodies can be as long as 13 inches long with a tail that can be 14 inches long. This tail is prehensile and is generally used to carry things while they run such as nesting material. Like the boodie, the woylie is very rodent-like in appearance--something I always find appealing. They have a sort of yellow-brown fur with a paler version of this color on their belly. They usually have little to no fur on their muzzle and tail. Additionally, the woylie is a macropod--meaning that they have horizontal pouches for their young.
The woylie is mainly a night creature. They are loners as well; although, like any other animal, mating is always a good time to make friends. Females of this species can mate about 6 months after birth, and they will produce a litter about every 3.5 months afterwards.
As far as food, they are omnivores and like various plants and insects; however, that is not their favorite. The woylie's most delectable dish comes in the form of underground fungi. They will use their foreclaws to dig up this fungi and feast upon it as if it was chocolate pudding. There was a time when the woylie actually was doing Australia a service by cleaning up all this fungi out of the ecosystem, but as of late, such things are simply not possible,
The latter statement is true because the woylie is almost entirely gone from this world. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has given the woylie a rating of CU or Critically Endangered. This means that the woylie is now in danger of going completely extinct, and it may happen soon. To put this in perspective, the woylie once inhabited 60% of Australias mainland where they now only exist in 1% of it. This drastic decrease comes from several factors--namely the introduction of grazing animals into the region, land clearing for agriculture, and the unfortunate introduction of red foxes who rather like eating the woylies. Sadly, we may not see many woylies for very much longer.
I know of no fiction made for the woylie, but when I try and imagine what a fictional creature will be like, I try to focus on the one or several bits of research that stand out the most. In this case, it was its love of fungi. A particular adoration for something always stands out to me, and with animals, that adoration usually comes in the form of food. That is why I see the woylie as a tinny, little connoisseur. I see them being very opinionated on every type of fungi and would likely make a good chef if given the opportunity.
So, that is the woylie in a nutshell. I hate to see something so cute disappear, but sometimes, that is just the way it goes with some animals. But we can still enjoy them while they are yet here, and even so, there are many other fun marsupials to stare at. That's what I do, you see. I like to stare at them. I stare at them because I like them, and I can't think of anything else I'd rather be doing--except, of course, writing this blog.
On that note, thank you for reading my blog! If you enjoyed it, you can comment below, or you can email me at tooie@tooiekangaroo.com. [Stare]
It's pretty cool that they can run while carrying things with their tail. That fungus must taste pretty good to them. Let's hope they don't go extinct, so we can enjoy them awhile longer.
ReplyDeleteActually, I like the tail thing too. I keep wondering how they scoop it up. Or maybe, they sort of lay it down on their tail, then curl it up. No idea.
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