Brief encounter with a wombat
Common Wombat
Canon EOS R5 Mk II with a Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8L IS USM [ISO 160, 70mm, f/4.0 and 1/160])
On Sunday morning, while driving through Namadgi National Park, I noticed movement at the side of the road. Fortunately, it was early morning, so there was not much traffic and I was able to pull over to the side of the road and flick my emergency lights on. I had just noticed a Common, or Bare-nosed Wombat (Vombatus ursinus) walking along the edge of the road. It was still safely in vegetation, and not trying to cross the road. I initially used my long lens to take photographs but the wombat was still, so I used my wider lens to capture more of the background.
The wombat had paused where it was, possibly hoping that I would not notice it. I didn’t approach too close nor stay too long, because it had no way of knowing that I meant it no harm and I didn’t want to stress it.
The car thermometer was reading -1C at the time, and despite the warming days the nights are still cold in Namadgi, so this wombat may have been avoiding the cold night, to move around in the morning, when it was not as cold, or it could have been late in returning to its burrow. Another survival strategy during winter, is that wombats will reduce their range and be less fussy about what plants they eat, sometimes maintaining a lower metabolic rate to reduce demand for food.
