You may have heard about tales of wombat heroics during the great Australian bushfire in recent years – that these pudgy marsupials saved countless wildlife with their burrows. Here are some more facts about these adorable wombats that’ll make you want to get to know them more.
Wombats have hard backsides
Despite looking fluffy, the fact is that a wombat’s backside is actually hard because it’s mostly made of cartilage. Their buns of steel are actually a defense strategy: when threatened, a wombat would dive head first into a tunnel and block the entrance with its rump. That’s not all – when the predator reaches inside the tunnel for its prey, the wombat will then drive its butt upwards, crushing the predator’s skull against the roof of its burrow!
It’s a fact that wombats poop cubes
Believe it or not, the wombat is the only animal that literally shits bricks – its poop is cube-shaped! There are theories as to why their poop is so: first, their poop is very dry which helps it form more rigid shapes, and their intestines have ravines in them. Wombats also use their poop to mark territories – they can produce over 100 cubic poops per day! – since their cube poops don’t roll away easily. Imagine building a wall with poop bricks!
They can really run
It may look pudgy and slow, but a wombat can run up to 25mph for a distance of 150m! Compare that to Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt, who runs at an average speed of just 23mph over 100m. There are reports of human injuries from wombat attacks, including injuries from being bowled over by charging wombat. They may look like cute 80lb balls of fur, but they’re also packed with sharp teeth and claws. Wombats are dangerous, and those are facts.
Their pouches are backwards
Wombats give birth to underdeveloped babies just like other marsupials. These joeys (marsupial babies) crawl into the mother’s pouch to develop further. However, unlike other marsupials, a wombat’s pouch is positioned backwards – meaning the opening faces the butt rather than the head of the mother! This is so that she can dig without getting dirt on her baby. (But imagine the shock if you thought you saw a face peeping at you from a butt.)
Wombats make fireproof mazes
Wombat burrows can be up to 30m long and 3.5m deep, and wide enough for wallabies, foxes, or a small human to crawl into. Wombats can dig up to 12 burrows for different purposes – some they share with other wombats. Their burrows are sufficiently deep to be fireproof; after a fire, a wombat can subsist on roots and bark until the grass regrows.
Male wombats have two penises
Okay, that’s not exactly right – they have a penis with two heads, called a bifurcated penis (other marsupials to have that). This corresponds to the females’ two vaginas (shocked yet?). Unlike humans, male wombats only use their penises to pass sperm – like other marsupials, they pee out of their cloaca which is an opening somewhere under their hard butts.
Now that you know some facts about these adorable wombats, you’ll be able to appreciate all its abilities that much more! Which fact did you like the most?
