Macropus giganteus indolentii and busy echidnas

I took the small dog for a stroll this afternoon and as is often the case we passed by a group of Eastern Grey Kangaroos grazing on the Joycea pallida in the paddock in front of the house.

The small dog was intent on our journey and didn't pay her vocal respects to these visitors to her territory.  The 'roos retaliated in kind by just standing , looking gormless, with bits of grass sticking out of their mouths.
I draw your attention to the furry lump in front of the closest 'roo.  When seen from a different angle this is clearly a youngster attempting to either:
  • grab a snack from the milk bar; or 
  • hitch a ride somewhere
This next photo is not high quality - trying to take photos with 3.5kg of terrier bouncing around on the end of a lead can be tricky.  However it does show the relative sizes of the female and putative passenger!  I am surprised she put up with this!
This episode has led me to the conclusion that we are seeing the evolution of a new subspecies as named in the title of this blog.  The vernacular name could be the Idle Kangaroo.

What has not been idle around the block is the local echidna tribe.   Every termite mound we noticed looked rather like this:

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