The Southern Cassowary

• The Southern Cassowary is the third tallest and second heaviest living bird, smaller only than the Ostrich and Emu.
• The name cassowary comes from two Papuan words, ‘kasu’ meaning horned and ‘weri’ meaning head, referring to the prominent casque on its head
• An adult cassowary can stand up to 1.8 metres (6’) tall.
• Cassowaries are solitary birds except during courtship, egg-laying, and sometimes around ample food supplies.
• The male cassowary is solely responsible for incubating the eggs and raising the young. They sit on the nest for 50 days until the eggs hatch.
• The father teaches the chicks how to forage and by nine months they become independent.
• There are only about 1500 cassowaries left in the wild.

We sell Cassowary plush toys in our store, these make a great gift for children or the child at heart, click here to see our cassowary products.

Photo credit: wendishness

Emu in the wild

• The Emu is native to Australia and it is believed to have existed almost unchanged for over 80 million years.
• Emus grow to approximately 6 feet tall and is the second largest bird in the world.
• Emu and ostrich are totally different birds.  The only similarity they share is that they are both flightless.
• The Emu is an omnivore.  In the wild its diet consists of grains and seeds and small rodents, reptiles and birds.
• Females can lay up to 60 eggs per season.  The average egg production for a hen is 30 to 40 eggs.
• The eggs are dark green and weigh 1 to 1 1/2 pounds (500 to 780 grams).
• The male Emu incubates the eggs 50 to 60 days and then raises the chicks.
• An Emu grows quickly and reaches its full height in one year.
• Emus love water and are excellent swimmers.
• Emus grow to approximately 6 feet tall.

We sell some terrific emu products in our store, from pewter figurines to plush toys – click here to check them out.

Voting closes on 10th January at 9.00am (AEDT) and only one vote per person but feel free to let others know about the voting!

Australian Tasmanian Devil - Caption Competition Photo for December 2009

At Australian Native T-Shirts we stock many koala designs as well as a variety of different products, click here to check them out.

Photo credit: wendishness

Echidna or Spiny Anteater

• The Echidna is a mammal but a unique one at that, like the platypus it is the only other egg-laying mammal on the planet.
• The echidna lay eggs that have a soft shell and the female carries them in her pouch for two weeks when they hatch and only produce one egg at a time. Once hatched the young echidna remains in the pouch for approximately 50 weeks by which time the baby would have grown spikes. The baby is then transferred by the mother to a nursery burrow where she returns every few days to feed the baby until it’s about 7 months old.
• Echidna young are called Puggles.
• The echidna has a very long tongue, approx 18cm in length but it has no teeth. The tongue is quite sticky and as its diet consists of ants and termites this works quite well.
• When faced with attack, the echidna will either burrow to safety or curl up in a ball showing only the spikes covering its body.

At Australian Native T-Shirts we sell Echidna products such as pewter figurines, t-shirts and cute plush toys – click here to check them out.

Photo credit: wendishness

Tasmanian Devil

• The Tasmanian Devil stores body fat in its tail and an unhealthy devil often has a thin tail.
• An analysis of mammalian bite force, corrected for body size, shows that the Tasmanian Devil has the strongest bite of any living mammal.
• Because it is a marsupial, a Tasmanian devil gives birth to very immature young which develop further while in the mother’s pouch.
• Tasmanian Devils are mainly scavengers – they mainly feed on the dead bodies of wallabies and sheep, Tasmanian devils will take other smaller animals as prey.
• When angered, the ears of Tasmanian devils turn a pinkish-red.
• The Tasmanian Devil was named for the sound of its scream.

In our store we sell Tasmanian Devil products such as pewter figurines as well as cute Tassie Devil plush toys – click here to view them.

Photo credit: wendishness

Voting closes on 30th November at 6.00pm (AEDT) and only one vote per person but feel free to let others know about the voting and don’t forget to join in next month’s caption competition which starts on December 1st! What’s on offer with the new competition? You’ll have to come back to find out

Australian Kangaroo - Caption Competition Photo for November 2009

Tree Kangaroos

• Tree kangaroos can leap 60 feet (18m) to the ground from trees without getting hurt.
• Instead of sweating, tree kangaroos lick their forearms and allow the evaporation to help cool their bodies.
• Young tree kangaroos are called joeys.
• Tree kangaroos move with agility in trees and can leap downward several yards to another tree or the ground. When they descend a tree more slowly, they back down.

Tree Kangaroo with Joey in pouch

Photo credit: wendishness

Kangaroos

• Kangaroos are marsupial mammals, which means they are warm-blooded animals who raise their offspring in a pouch.
• Kangaroos are native to Australia where most marsupials live and there are over 40 species of kangaroo.
• Kangaroos are divided into red and grey species. Red kangaroos thrive in the desert regions of the continent; grey kangaroos range in the grassy areas of Eastern and Western Australia.
• Male kangaroos are called bucks, female kangaroos are called does and young kangaroos are joeys.
• Kangaroos are famous for their strong hind legs on which they hop from place to place.
• The kangaroo’s long tail helps the animal maintain balance while hopping.
• Kangaroos are herbivores – grass eaters.
• Humans and Australian wild dogs-dingoes-are the kangaroos’ main predators.
• Kangaroos are notorious kickers when it comes to defending themselves.
• Kangaroos when challenging the alpha male will fight nasty, kicking and boxing. Younger male roos when learning to play will often practise boxing with each other.
• A group of kangaroos is called a mob.

We sell some fantastic designs of Kangaroos in our store on wallhangings and t-shirts, as well as pewter figurines, plush toys and various other products – click here to check them out.

Voting closes on 31st October at 6.00pm (AEDT) and only one vote per person but feel free to let others know about the voting and don’t forget to join in next month’s caption competition which starts on November 1st! What’s on offer with the new competition? You’ll have to come back to find out

Australian Emu - Caption Competition Photo for October 2009