Koalas in the big WET
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What's up YouTube?
Well what's up in Australia is it is wet with a capital WE and T.
A lot of people have been contacting me really concerned, wanting to know if everything's alright here. So, I've been taking a little bit of video over the last week or two as it's been raining and I've sat down this afternoon, since I really can't go out and do anything at all outside because it's still pouring rain and thought I would throw a little water update together for you on the state of things at Koala Gardens.
So, I really appreciate everyone’s concern both for me, and for these koalas that we absolutely love.
You can see Matilda here, sleeping out on a small limb in the rain, just like she would if it wasn't raining.
The rain really doesn't bother the koalas at all.
And while the rain might not bother the koalas, listen to this. So, that is the sound of frogs. I'm sure most of you would have guessed that. But there are so many different frogs just in this one little gully. I wonder how many species you can identify?
I'm not very good at that, but I can hear at least six different types of frogs in there. I'm a big frog lover.
I can tell you; I've also got this population of green tree frogs that have been just camping out every day for their sleep on the side of the house. I've counted as many as 15 on some days. I just love them.
You can see that it's raining at the moment. In pretty much all the video that you'll see in this particular clip its lightly raining.
And bullet just has a good yawn and tucks himself in a little bit. Koalas like to just curl into a ball shape, tuck their head and let the water roll off their backs. Matilda is giving much the same response: just hold on, keep your head tucked down so that the water stays out of your eyes and ears and sleep it off.
That's the koala way.
Jesse just doesn't always seem to make quite as good a ball shape as those really bigger round koalas, but he's trying.
And it's not actually raining just now but you can see how wet the bark of that red gum is that Matilda sleeping in.
Even the redneck wallaby is out when the rain stops getting a bit of a feed. They are grass eaters.
Jesse seems to have got that ball shape little bit better this time.
And as I pan out you can see that it's raining on my lens.
There's the soft release tree that he escaped from originally.
And you can see that insects are going absolutely mad with all this rain!
And now we're looking down over what was once swamp area. It's now used to farm sugar cane and rice, but it's fast turning into a lake. A lot of roads have been cut around the area, but so far that road that leads southeast is still open.
And now we're looking back across over into Hugo’s home range and that's where Ellie and Matilda are.
We've still got frogs on the side of the house. So, this as taken about a week later and you can see that each night the frogs come out and feed and then, in the morning, they hop up high and sleep. You have to wonder how they can sleep just suctioned on but they're perfectly happy there.
We're now a couple of weeks into the rain and you can see that the swamp area is fast filling up. And these are bullets favourite trees. Just to give you a bit of an idea, I'm standing just outside the back of the house.
I took this footage today, on the 23rd of March, and you can see I'm standing under Bullets favourite trees and the ground is just sodden. Everywhere you walk it's just so wet.
Now I'm over at the soft release enclosure and you can see that little, tiny waterfall as the water is literally running out through the gate of the soft release enclosure and down the hill. So, there you can see the tree.
The swamp is being returned to what Mother Nature intended it to be. Well, becoming a lake really.
And this is the drain that's beside my driveway and you can see that the water is just piling up all the time. It is still raining of course at the moment. And the frogs are still on the side of the house.
It's always a different number of frogs. Oh and look at that little tiny one there.
More view of a part of the swamp.
So it is definitely Wet, Wet, Wet.
At koala gardens, many things are very happy about the rain because it's actually better than the alternative. Rain is so much better than drought.
I'm on the front veranda of the house now. Pretty much every nook and cranny has got a green tree frog tucked into it during the daytime.
Now I'm standing inside my back veranda, because it's raining so hard. So, I'm looking through a fly screen, but you can see how much that swamp area is filling up.
And you've made it right through to the end of yet another video!
And I didn't actually expect it to take up this much time. Thanks for watching. That's my backyard.
So, can you write in the comments below ‘the koalas are wet!”
See you again real soon.
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