We had a very special visitor last night, Bruce "our" Koala. The daughter noticed him running along and he dashed up this tree. He is about a metre from me here, and was totally unafraid of me. I almost could have reached out and touched him.
He is about 75cm tall, has a scent gland on his chest denoting him as a male. He was just so cute.
The daughter looked up on the 'net and discovered he is a Northern Koala. He is a grey colour with a white stomach and silver hair on his face. In the photograph below, you can see his scent gland better, and the fact he does not have a pouch.
It is a pity his eyes reflected the flash of the camera, but it was pitch black outside. We didn't want other lights scaring him: we thought the flash might have sent him off completely. It didn't.
I stirred them all up at work saying I had pictures of my new boyfriend. They all had a look and a good giggle. The librarian who is a bear collector, I told her I had a picture of an even better teddy than she had. Since I know that she has a very valuable collection of teddies, she was very sceptical. But she went and saw grizzlies in Canada and Alaska last year, so finally I could pay her back.
He took off about 20 minutes later back to his tree, just at the end of our house, and later I heard him calling out to the girls. What a racket. It was a very special moment to be up close and personal with a truly wild creature. He is such a darling.
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