Koala ResearchMeet ... Daisy (and Lacka)Bushfire update 6 February 2006: Daisy moved out of her normal range well before the fire, and we hadn't seen her for some weeks. Hopefully she has found an excellent home a long way from the burnt area. We will continue to watch for her.
A proud and determined girl, this one! Daisy burst onto the scene in March 2003, with her little son Lacka. The drought was making life difficult for her baby, so she brought him to this new area, and settled in to the home range vacated by Russell Crowe two years earlier. Since then, she has been our most watched koala. We have watched her comfort her baby Lacka, by gently pressing her nose against his after a moment of stress. While we watched she has raised another baby, Rudi, from a tiny gangly infant to a healthy teenager. She has shielded them both from hail, strong rain and wind. Whenever conditions get difficult her baby would run to her and cuddle up on her belly. She taught them how to get the best leaves. She has even taken Rudi on a journey of discovery when he was first out of the pouch. We found them in Ingrid's, Tess's and then Uncle Tom's territories, and all we can surmise is that she was introducing him to his neighbours! Daisy excels at hiding. She and Janine play a special game - Daisy hides, Janine searches without success, then just as we are about to leave, Daisy appears! Usually she is found where we have searched - leading us to believe that she might be deliberately playing games with us. It is possible for a koala to hide themselves - they hear our approach well before we see them, and we have watched another koala (Uncle Tom) run to a hiding spot in a favourite tree when he heard our "Coo-ee" (he didn't like people at all, and this seemed to be his way of dealing with it). Russell's gully, where Daisy lives, is a varied habitat with dense tea tree scrub at one end (very good for hiding), and open grassland under big Manna Gums at the other. A little creek runs through her land, but only flows after heavy rain. She also has a lovely shady Casuarina tree which she often sits in on hot days. Poppy and Ingrid are nearby, and good company, Bear prowls around a lot (and may be the father of Rudi), little Rua lives in the tea tree area upstream and dear old Blaze is never far away (he is the other candidate for father of Rudi). Clarence is a new neighbour. Out of the wild bush she came - beautiful, determined and unstoppable. She had a baby to feed, and no hoighty-toighty resident koalas were going to get in her way. The long drought of 2000 to 2004 had pushed her kind to the limit. Koalas were dying. The Manna Gums had become skeletons of glistening white branches, with few leaves tantalisingly positioned on the tips of the finest branchlets, way out of reach of even the smartest koalas. But Daisy is a survivor. The land she knew, her childhood home and the home of her mother and grandmother, was falling apart - its magnificent shady peppermints fried by the sun, its ever-reliable manna gums no longer a friend. So she, the young and courageous mother, took her baby away. He will probably never know how lucky he is. Lacka was born, probably in January 2002, and spent the first six months of his life in blissful ignorance of the harsh world around him. Daisy's sacrifices on his behalf were not known to him in his warm safe pouch, and when he emerged she gave him love and reassurance. Still, he didn't like the outside world - just getting to the leaves was difficult, and even when he ate a heap of them his belly still felt empty. He cried, and she hugged him, but even his mother couldn't make his tummy full. When we first met them they were a team. Lacka was well grown, about half Daisy's size, and had inherited her courage. They both looked down on us with confidence and curiosity. How long they had been moving we will never know, but adversity had strengthened their partnership. When Daisy moved, her son followed immediately. When she woke, he woke. When she stopped eating, he stopped and wrapped his little arms around her for a cuddle. They were like two parts of the same body. One time I watched them for too long, and though they appeared relaxed, when I turned to leave I looked back once to see Daisy press her nose to her son's. Both closed their eyes and held their heads together in one of the most beautiful displays of motherly love I have ever seen. Luckily for us, Daisy has decided to stay in our area. She has selected a lovely site, the old home of a marvellous male who died two years ago. It was about time someone took his place. Lacka stayed with his mother for much longer than most koala sons. He was still around at 2 & 1/2 years old, but moving around a lot. No doubt his desire for a girl of his own is overpowering. But will any girl ever be able to live up to his mum? Update 11 October 2004 - Lacka has come back again to visit with his mum which is quite unusual for a young male nearly 3 years old - they must have a very special bond. Daisy had a new baby boy Rudi in 2004. www.echidnawalkabout.com.au |
“Daisy” and “Lacka” |
