We saw a koala! In the wild! Right near our house!!!

We do a walk most Wednesdays but it's rare that we see anything that's exciting enough to justify its own full post. Today was different - we saw a koala!

We live in a part of Australia where koalas do live in the wild. However, with attacks by dogs, urban growth that lops down the rare handful of (gum) trees that are their own food source and the out-of-control spread of chlamydia our beloved Australian icon is genuinely facing extinction.

Thus, these two Aussies, who have both seen koalas many times before were ecstatic to see one in the bush nearby to our house this afternoon!

Brad tried to get some good photos with his (newer-than-my) phone but without disturbing our new buddy too much. It was tempting, of course, to want to get close. There's something about our gorgeous furry mammals that makes me want to cuddle them. (That said, I have held koalas and they have very sharp claws; they need them to climb up those huge trees they sleep in!)

Eventually, our friend slowly made its way up this big tree, clearly indicating to us, "Okay guys, photo shoot is over. Off you go." So we did, with big grins on our faces and our hearts wide open with renewed hope for the fate of this little one.

Meanwhile, we still got to see more of our other marsupial friends; I think we saw both the red-necked wallaby and the swamp wallaby today as well. It's kinda hard to tell which is which when they're tucked in between the trees as they're a similar size and colouring, but they're also super cute and I (imagine) cuddly!

As long as we don't scare them too much when they hear us coming then they'll often stand very still while we take Brad takes a handful of photos. Then something will spook them, a new sound or we'll shift our weight, and they look for their best exit and they're off!

And if a koala and a big handful of wallabies wasn't enough to make for two happy Wednesday Walkers then the veritable sea of these purple flowers was 😊

Thank you to my walking buddy, life buddy and photo extraordinaire, @new.things. What would I do without you? 😘

Sort:  

We are so lucky to have a decent chunk of bush so close.
!LUV
!ALIVE
!LOL

So lucky. I !LUV it. Thanks for inviting me to live you babe 😘😘😘

!LUV
!LOL
!ALIVE

@consciouscat! You Are Alive so I just staked 0.1 $ALIVE to your account on behalf of @new.things. (3/10)

The tip has been paid for by the We Are Alive Tribe through the earnings on @alive.chat, feel free to swing by our daily chat any time you want.

I swapped our double bed for a trampoline without telling my wife.
She really hit the roof!

Credit: reddit
@consciouscat, I sent you an $LOLZ on behalf of @new.things
LOLZ staking coming August 14! Please read our latest update for details on how it will impact you.
(4/8)

@consciouscat! You Are Alive so I just staked 0.1 $ALIVE to your account on behalf of @new.things. (3/10)

The tip has been paid for by the We Are Alive Tribe through the earnings on @alive.chat, feel free to swing by our daily chat any time you want.

How special! Most certainly a sightings worth writing home about!

Indeed 🙌 Seems I've written "home" to my fellow Hiveans !LOL

!LOL

Where does a martial arts instructor in Bankok live?
In a Thai con-do.

Credit: reddit
@consciouscat, I sent you an $LOLZ on behalf of @fionasfavourites
LOLZ staking coming August 14! Please read our latest update for details on how it will impact you.
(1/1)

An atom walks into a bar and says I think I lost an electron in here
Bartender: Are you positive?

Credit: theabsolute
@fionasfavourites, I sent you an $LOLZ on behalf of @consciouscat
LOLZ staking coming August 14! Please read our latest update for details on how it will impact you.
(2/6)

Your content has been voted as a part of Encouragement program. Keep up the good work!

Use Ecency daily to boost your growth on platform!

Support Ecency
Vote for new Proposal
Delegate HP and earn more

Sorry for the generic reply this week I have some issues limiting how much I can type

Thanks for joining Wednesday Walk :), I truly enjoy exploring the world virtually each Wednesday seeing walks from all around the globe and feeling I am there and experiencing it all myself, such as I did in your post just now :)

All good, brother. I cannot even imagine trying to moderate a group and keep up with all the activities !LUV

What an awesome walk indeed! Jealous you guys are so close to the wilds. I am going to get a bit sappy here but it is dang awesome that you guys are so I'm touch with the environmental challenges your ecosystem is facing.

It is wonderful indeed to be so close to the bush. We feel very fortunate.

And you don't feel like you're very aware of the issues in your part of the natural world @pixelhuntersam?

Oh I'm very aware, painfully so. But I've noticed that it is not the case with a lot of people. There is either willful ignorance or apathy a lot of times. Which breaks my heart.

Ah, I see. My guess is that many people feel like the problem is too big, too overwhelming so their nervous system shuts down in order to protect them from big emotions that are too scary to feel (like powerlessness). I'm getting better at noticing what I notice in regards to the problem, noticing what I notice in regards to what I can do to help right now, and asking myself to let go of the sense of responsibility to fix everything now.

Seeing wildlife on trails always ever so exciting, brings us some hope to the survival if everyone works together to allow more space for them to roam freely.

!LUV

That's so exciting! I've only ever seen a koala out in the wild once and it was so high up in a gumtree we could barely see it.. it was still pretty exciting but these photos are so much better! This one was so big! Good job with the photos friends!

I can feel your excitement !LOL 😁

Thanks for the kind words, Adam. I was going to ask if you're well but I guess I could go look for recent posts from you too 😂

Did you hear about the Scooby Doo villain who became an Olympic swimmer?
He would have won, if it weren't for all those medaling kids!

Credit: reddit
@aussieninja, I sent you an $LOLZ on behalf of @consciouscat
LOLZ staking coming August 14! Please read our latest update for details on how it will impact you.
(1/6)

nice sharing perfect

nice sharing perfect

Congratulations @consciouscat! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s):

You got more than 3500 replies.
Your next target is to reach 3750 replies.

You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word STOP

Check out the last post from @hivebuzz:

Hivebuzz supports the HiveFest⁷ Travel Reimbursement Fund.

Woooooooooooo hoooooooo! Thanks !LUV 😄

Koalas are so cute

Aren't they?! 🐨

BTW, @bluepark thank you for the reblog 🙌🥰🙏 !LUV

How fantastic. I’d be delighted to have them as neighbours. Mind you we’ve seen Deer very close to our house here in England.

Oooooh. I'd be delighted to have deer near our house (if they were native here that is!). How fun! !LOL

How many jazz musicians does it take to replace a lightbulb?
A-one, a-two, a one-two-three-four!

Credit: reddit
@nicklewis, I sent you an $LOLZ on behalf of @consciouscat
LOLZ staking coming August 14! Please read our latest update for details on how it will impact you.
(1/8)

That’s the thing, because they are so abundant here in the U.K. I kind of imagine they are all over the world. Which they aren’t of course! lol

!LOL It's so easy to forget that "our" normal isn't "the" normal everywhere! Like I'm so used to looking for snakes in the bush in summer. It's totally normal. Totally expected. Watch where you put your feet. But when I see videos of runners in the U.S. and they're looking out/calling out for bears as a "normal" potential hazard during a forest run I'm like WTF?! Haha. So different. And isn't it wonderful that it's so different?

What did the Golden Gate bridge say to the Golden Gate river when they broke up?
I'm over you.

Credit: reddit
@nicklewis, I sent you an $LOLZ on behalf of @consciouscat
LOLZ staking coming August 14! Please read our latest update for details on how it will impact you.
(2/10)

Gosh I'm sorry I'm late fir this one! What great shots!!! I have an overwhelming urge to cuddle those koalas but I believe it's a terrible idea in reality 😳😳😳

Yeah, I want to cuddle them too. Normal, I think for us (mammals) to want to cuddle other cute mammals. !LOL

My neighbors listen to really good music.
Whether they like it or not.

Credit: reddit
@clairemobey, I sent you an $LOLZ on behalf of @consciouscat

Are You Ready for some $FUN? Learn about LOLZ's new FUN tribe!
(1/8)