Wombat: fights, scars, property theft (7 photos)

Wombats have an excellent reputation among humans, which doesn't surprise me. After all, how can you not love this adorable, practically tame underground bear with an armored bottom? And yet, wombats have a sore spot, where the cute marsupial turns into a vicious guard dog. And that's interactions with other wombats.





This wombat has grown through the heart of a tree and now feeds from its roots. Wildlife is amazing!

Wombats aren't exactly antisocial animals, but their sociability is extremely limited. A wombat will tolerate other wombats in its territory and even feed in the same field, but this only applies to two or three trusted neighbors who have already demonstrated they won't try to take over its owner's territory. For the rest, there will be no mercy.



Even a human can easily detect the boundaries of a wombat's territory: pyramids of square feces mark them. Clearly understandable.





Usually, the female's grown children become trusted neighbors, but even they can suddenly become brazen.

As soon as a wombat spots a stranger on its territory, it immediately loses its cool. It begins hissing, growling, and practically foaming at the mouth. Moreover, at this stage of aggression, the marsupial doesn't stay for long: if the stranger doesn't leave immediately, the wombat will attack. Now the potential neighbor will have to find out firsthand just how dangerous a 45-kilogram marsupial with rodent-like teeth can be.



If The Irony of Fate or Enjoy Your Bath had been filmed in Australia, this is what the unexpected visitor would have looked like...

At first glance, such aggression seems excessive, but in fact, there are good reasons for it. After all, successful wombats don't wander into other people's territory—they're there to protect their own. This means the passerby is either a young wombat looking for a home, or an unlucky adult who was kicked out of his burrow. In other words, an animal with nothing to lose.



It might look like this wombat has some kind of skin disease. But that's not the case. These are scars from a fight with another wombat.

And if its owner hesitates even a little, this same restless wombat will take over its burrow and proclaim itself master of the land—and try to get it out now! Any attempt to pull the wombat out of the ground ends with it exposing its butt, hidden beneath the skin of which are cartilaginous plates. Biting through it is impossible, let alone a wombat, or even a predator!



— Wise albino wombat, share your knowledge! — Don't stray too far from your burrow, or some squatters will take it.

The true owner, however, finds himself in an extremely precarious position. Unlike the brazen intruder, he has access to food, but he can't hide from dingoes—the wombats' main enemies. Therefore, if the owner fails to drive out the invader within a few hours, the invader will flee and go looking for a new home. For example, a cozy burrow whose owner is temporarily absent.



Basically, wombats are wombats; the housing issue only spoiled them...