Curious about the Southern Hairy-Nosed Wombat

What's a wombat and what's up with its poo?

What: Southern hairy-nosed wombats are marsupials with hairy noses, duh!

Who: The southern hairy-nosed wombat human neighbors call them "bulldozers of the bush" because of their digging abilities.

When: Southern hairy-nosed wombats don't have to worry about getting dirt on their babies while digging because, unlike a the more famous marsupial kangaroo, wombat baby pouches face rearward to keep dirt out of their pouches when digging.

Where: Southern hairy-nosed wombats live along the southern coast of Australia.

How: How do southern hairy-nosed wombats communicate? They use scents and sound; usually they leave scents behind like clues for other wombats to discover.

Why: Why do southern hairy-nosed wombats dig so much? Because they spend so much time burrowing or in their burrows; in fact, they burrow so much, they often build intricate underground warrens where the spend much of their time.

Huh?: Northern, southern, hairy, bare... there are three species of wombats: bare-nosed wombat, northern hairy-nosed wombat, and the southern hairy-nose wombat--and the northern hairy-nosed wombat is currently considered a critically endangered species.

Wow!: You probably don't know the exact shape of your poo, but you can know the shape of the southern hairy-nosed wombat's! They poop cube-shaped poo!

Keep getting curious about animals with The Screaming Hairy Armadillo and it's free Educator's Guide!