There are 39 known varieties of this interesting animal. Some of the pale-colored wallabies look like large rats while others are similar to rabbits, but most look like small kangaroos since they are part of the kangaroo family. However, the fur of most wallabies is brighter colored than kangaroos'. Wallabies' tails are more slender and bushy or tufted at the tip, whereas kangaroos' tails are quite plain.
These animals are known as marsupials, meaning the mothers carry their little ones in a pouch. The Creator has adapted them to the rocky areas of Australia, New Guinea and neighboring islands. (Australia is sometimes called the "Land Down Under" because it lies entirely south of the equator.) Most of them are speedy and if startled hop swiftly away on their strong hind legs. At other times they will hide in a cave or rocky crevice.
Wallabies live on grasses, but also eat foliage and bark from trees and roots of various kinds. They usually feed in the cool of the evening, at night or in early morning, leaving the shelters where they rest throughout the day. Another provision of the Creator is in providing them, in their hot, dry homelands, with bodies that get along very well on the moisture in their food, although they will drink water when it is available. One kind, the tammer, even drinks salt water when fresh water is not available.
Each year mothers have just one blind, helpless baby (like a baby kangaroo which is called a joey), and it remains several months in her pouch until it can eat solid food. Even then it stays near her, until big enough to care for itself, and is not ashamed to jump back into her pouch if danger is near. Babies are not born in this pouch, but, although tiny and blind, their sensitive noses tell them that's where their food supply is, and they make their own way into it to enjoy the rich, nourishing milk.
Usually brownish-beige in color, or occasionally red, gray or blackish, they are much like miniature kangaroos, having short front feet, long back feet and long, strong tails which they use for balance, support when sitting, and help in leaping. Full of curiosity, they usually stop grazing to watch a person going by.
Wallabies are content with the heat and dryness of their homes, and if they knew about their Creator and could speak, they would surely thank Him for His care over them. But boys and girls do have that ability, and God (your Creator, too) likes to have you thank Him. One Bible verse expresses it this way: "Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Eph. 5:2020Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; (Ephesians 5:20). Be sure to do this every day!
The Wallaby From “Down Under”
Let's consider a few of the varieties of wallabies living "down under." These vary in size from 12 to 40 inches, plus a 10 to 28-inch tail and weigh from 4 pounds to over 50.
One of the largest is the brush kangaroo, because in size and activities it appears more like a kangaroo than anything else. Another large one, most commonly encountered and best known, is the rednecked. It is particularly noted for the great leaps it can make.
Then there is the sure-footed rock wallaby, provided by the Creator with special thick pads of rough skin on its hind feet to give it a good grip on the rocks where it makes its home. It is stocky and unusually powerful, jumping and dashing around o rocks and precipices, making great leaps from cliffs and from rock to rock. Most of these are red in color with big, upright ears, large eyes and fine long fur.
Another of the rock family is known as the ring-tailed, because of the pretty bands of white, brown and pale yellow that circle its tail. Another, with the name shrub wallaby, is among the smaller ones. Each mother in this group seems to have a problem with her lively Joey that hops in and out of her pouch when she stops to rest or eat. Unable to teach it good manners, she sometimes will not let it in again until it gets back on good behavior. (So you see the mothers of lively boys and girls aren't the only ones who have problems!)
It's not hard to understand how the spectacled hare variety got its name, for each eye is circled by a light-orange ring, looking just like a pair of glasses. Another one that has an unusual tail also has an unusual name—the nail-tailed—because at the tip of its tail a horny spike appears. No one knows just what its purpose may be.
The hare walilaby, named for its size and movements, can jump higher than a man's head. Like a rabbit, with twists and jumps, it usually leaves its enemy far behind and is quite a sight to see.
Space doesn't allow listing more of these unusual creatures, so we will have to stop with these few, but how nice to know the Creator doesn't overlook any of them. They also give us reason to think upon His ways in every part of His wonderful creation, as the opening Bible verse tells us, and we must never forget that because we are a very special part of His creation, we should always seek to please Him.