EchidnasKoalasEmusWombatsKangaroosDingoesKookaburrasHopping
MouseSnakesPossums
Echidnas are Australian egg laying mammals. They are monotremes. The only other monotreme in the world is the platypus. Echidnas are nocturnal as they sleep during the dayand hunt for food at night. Another name for the echidna is the spiny anteater.
They have poor eyesight but very good hearing. The males have a poison spur on each hind leg which can inflict a nasty wound. Echidnas have sharp cream coloured spines growing out of reddish brown to black fur. They also have sharp claws which they use to dig in the ground and bury themselves to escape from danger. Echidnas have long tongues which they flick out to catch ants, termites and other insects. They don't have any teeth. The tail is short, spineless and hairless. When burrowing down for protection or when feeding, the echidnas eyes are closed.
The female echidna lays an egg which has a tough skin. The egg hatches in a pouch underneath her body. The baby echidna stays in the pouch for about 20 days. It drinks milk from a teat inside the pouch. After this time the mother takes her baby out of the pouch and hides it under bushes or in a hole in the ground. She visits the baby once a day to feed it. They live in other animals' burrows or hollow logs or just dig into the ground for warmth. They live in rainforests and in deserts. Echidnas are quite common animals and are not endangered and but are protected by the law.
Year 3
Koalas are not bears. They are marsupials. They have a pouch. Koalas are related to wombats. Koalas live in trees and eat the leaves of some gum trees.
Koala is an aboriginal word that means does not drink but koalas do drink. After the baby koala is born it stays in its mother's pouch for about six months. Then it rides on its mother's back until it is about one year old.
Year 1
Emus are the largest birds that live in Australia. They cannot fly but can run very fast. The emu's feathers are dark brown. The female emu lays eggs in a nest made of grass and leaves. The nest is on the ground. She lays between seven and eleven eggs. The male emu sits on the eggs and they hatch after about sixty days.
Emus eat fruit, green plants, seeds, grasshoppers and caterpillars.
Year 1
Wombats are Australian animals. They are marsupials. Marsupials are mammals that have a pouch.The common wombat has silky grey fur and a hairy nose.
Wombats eat grass, leaves and the roots of plants. During the day they live in burrows which they dig with their strong sharp claws and come out at night to eat.
The female wombat has one baby at a time. It lives inside the mother's pouch and feeds on milk. The baby stays in the pouch for about six months.
Year 3
There are fifty different sorts of kangaroos in Australia. They are marsupials. All marsupials are mammals that have pouches. Kangaroos are grazing animals.
Kangaroos have strong back legs that help them jump. A strong tail helps them to balance. The two biggest pouched mammals are the grey kangaroo and the red kangaroo. They are both 2 metres tall. The grey kangaroo lives in the woodlands and the red kangaroo lives on the open plains. Both live in herds called mobs. Kangaroos feed on grass, roots and other plants.
A baby kangaroo is only 2 to 3 centimetres long when it is born. It crawls to the pouch and stays there for about eight months. It feeds on its mother's milk from a teat inside the pouch. Baby kangaroos are called joeys. When the baby kangaroo is born it has no hair. It may leave to feed on grass but it always returns when there is danger or when it wants to rest.
Year 2
A dingo is a wild dog that lives in Australia. Dingoes have yellowy brown fur. They have pointy ears and a bushy tail that has a white tip.
Dingoes can have up to 8 babies. They are blind and have no hair. They are kept in lairs in caves or in thick bushes. The little pups drink milk from their mother for three months. Then they go hunting with the other dingoes. They eat birds and small animals including calves.
Year 3 and Year 2
Kookaburras belong to a family of birds that are called kingfishers. There are two kinds of kookaburras: the laughing kookaburra and the blue-winged kookaburra.
The laughing kookaburrs is 40cm long and it is white and brown with some blue and grey on their wings. The blue-winged kookaburra has a large blue patch on the wings. They have a very pointy long beak.
Kookaburras live in nearly all of Australia except the dry interior. They live in family groups of parents and their chicks. The chicks of varying ages help feed the new nestlings. They claim their territory with their laughing calls. Kookaburras lay 2-6 eggs. Their nests are built in hollow branches of trees.
Their diet includes lizards, snakes, worms and insects. Sometimes they eat rats and small birds. They also eat mice, fish, frogs and other small animals.
Year 2
Hopping mice are a group of native mice and belong to the rodent family. They are found in most parts of Australia except the east coast. Many live in hot dry places in the desert where there is grass and trees where they can dig tunnels to get away from the heat. Hopping mice are about 30 cm long. They have a long tail, big ears and long whiskers. Hopping mice eat plants, seeds and berries.
They have about six babies each year. They sleep in their burrow during the day and come out at night to eat.
Year 3 and Year 1
Snakes are legless reptiles. There are many different kinds of snakes in Australia. Some are harmless like the carpet snake and some are poisonous like the king brown.
Snakes live in holes, trees and even in the water. Some even live in people's roofs. They live in all parts of Australia. They can eat birds including chooks, rats, mice, eggs, fish, frogs, lizards and even other snakes.
Most snakes lay eggs. Most baby snakes are born in August or September. The mother usually doesn't look after her babies.
Year 3 and Year 2
There are many kinds of possums. But I think Hush is a brush-tail possum. All brush-tail possums have long bushy tails and are grey like Hush and Grandma Poss. Possums live in lots of different parts of Australia and New Guinea and some in New Zealand now.
They mainly live in hollow treees but now many possums live in house roofs. Possums love to eat buds, leaves and lots of fruit. They mainly feed at night.
When possums are born they are less than 1cm long. They stay in their mother's pouch and drink their mother's milk until they are 4 months old. By the time possums are 5 months old they are old enough to find their own food. When they are 1 year old they are old enough to have a baby. Most baby possums are born in spring but some are born in autumn. A mother possum carries her babies on her back for about three months. If the mother possum wants a rest she puts the babies in a nest and sleeps with her mate in another nest.
The nests are usually made with leaves and twigs for the outside and to make the inside soft some soft moss is used with bark. Brush-tail possums have better fur than the similar looking ring-tails do. Brush-tails have one thumb on their feet but ring-tails have two thumbs like koalas.
Another kind of possum is the honey possum. Honey possums feed on flowers and also eat insects. They don't make their nests out of sticks and leaves they make it out of grass.
The cuscus is another big possum that lives in New Guinea and the north parts of Australia. It mostly eats leaves but may eat birds or other small animals.
Many possums are dying out but brush-tails have learnt to live with people!
Year 3
Check out what the children from Anderson's Creek Primary School wrote about Australian Animals.
This page was written by students of Years 1, 2 and 3 HillviewSS, 19 October 1997.
Updated 12 February 2000.
