Category: Wild Animals

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Helpful Wombats Led SomeThirsty Animal Friends to Water

I really love wombats. In 2007 I even visited Australia Zoo, where I got to cuddle the larger-than-expected marsupials.

Like the rest of the world, I was devastated to hear about the wildfires ravaging the Outback, and ecstatic to learn that in some parts of the country, wombats were saving the day.

Image credit: Meg Jerrard via Unsplash

The Outback is vast and sparsely populated, so it’s easy for unusual animal behaviors to go unnoticed.

But on one particular cattle ranch in New South Wales, it became evident that Wombats were helping the ecosystem to thrive despite the drought.

You see, wombats like to burrow deep into the ground.

And on Ted Finnie’s ranch, the wombats burrowed into an underground pool.

Image Credit: Upper Hunter Landcare

As Newsweek reported:

According to Finnie’s estimates, the hole—which looks more like a “crater”–is now around 20 meters (65.6 feet) in diameter and four meters deep.

While some animals had been able to access the water before the wombats got to work, their burrowing widened it up into a nice little billabong that could serve the wider animal population.

Image Credit: Upper Hunter Landcare

Associate Professor Julie Old, a biologist at Western Sydney University, told ABC News:

“It’s almost like the wombats are water diviners, they’re finding the water and digging the holes to get to the water and the other animals are taking advantage of it.”

Image credit: David Clode via Unsplash

They certainly have the claws for it, and lots of other native species are reaping the rewards.

Finnie told the news outlet a recently erected camera trap captured birds, goannas, possums, echidnas and emus drinking at the water hole.

This story was particularly gratifying on the heels of another story earlier in the year that claimed wombats weren’t just digging tunnels but were actually herding other animals into their burrows to protect them from the fire.

I 100% believed this was true, but some experts were not so quick to buy in.

They reminded us laypeople that there’s a fine line between rounding up other hapless species and simply allowing them to coexist.

As one researcher put it:

“I wouldn’t say that wombats are “happy” about sharing with other animals, but they will “tolerate” them as long as they don’t disturb the wombat too much,” Dr. Michael Swinbourne, an ecologist at the University of Adelaide, told AFP.

Honestly, I like the idea that wombats are the marsupial saviors of the Australian animal kingdom.

But I can also accept that they are simply a critical part of a balanced ecosystem, doing their part and letting the others follow.

Either way, they are very good sports, and basically heroes in my book.

What do you think? Should we nominate wombats for a Nobel Peace Prize? Share your thoughts in the comments!

The post Helpful Wombats Led SomeThirsty Animal Friends to Water appeared first on UberFacts.

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Giraffes Hum to Each Other at Night and How Adorable Is That?

Researchers have always assumed that, given their 13-foot-long tracheas, giraffes were silent beings. There has been some speculation that the gentle, odd-looking vegetarians might produce infrasonic sounds too low for the human ear to catch, but it’s never been proven.

At least, until now.

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Researchers at the University of Vienna have spent the last 8 years gathering 947 hours of giraffe noises from zoos around Europe, and have come out with some very interesting – and unexpected – findings.

Not only do giraffes hum to each other at night, but they hum at frequencies that humans can actually hear (around 92 Hertz).

The report in BMC Research Notes, expands:

“Based on their acoustic structure, these vocalizations might function as communicative signals to convey information about the physical and motivational attributes of the caller.”

According to Wired:

“Giraffes have excellent vision, so their primary means of communication is thought to be visual signals during daylight hours. As prey animals, it also makes sense that they might not want to make loud noises that can attract the attention of predators. But when vision is impaired at night, low frequency humming might be a great way to make sure the herd stays together.”

More research is needed to correlate the sounds to giraffe behaviors, but scientists suspect the humming might convey information about age, gender, sexual arousal, dominance, and other things that are less understood.

Researchers more firmly believe that the sounds could be meant to keep the herd together at night, or help wanderers find their way back to safety.

Take a listen:

It’s pretty cool, if you ask me. Were I a giraffe, there would be something reassuring about knowing the others would be there all night, making it easy to get some rest.

There’s safety in numbers, after all.

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