# Wanggami



## WildPolitics (Dec 11, 2016)

This essay is for an anthology. I'd appreciate your thoughts and reactions, especially with the shift mid-way and back again at the end. Does it work? Does it jar?
*

Wanggami*​ 
Eyes twitch, ears flick. Leaning again a mighty tree, she stretches her back and deeply yawns. A satisfying extension that reaches down to her toes. Clothed in soft, deep chocolate-brown fur, with a silver ruff beneath her chin, she pushes herself up to stand. Her coat echoes the colours of the ancient tree, its bark silver, with streaks of ochre, brown and gold.

The sun has moved to its midmorning pose. Beyond the tree’s deep shade, the landscape is bathed in flaxen light, shimmering off the dry stalks of a crop recently harvested. Large round bales stand in a sparse grid, casting deep round shadows that highlight the brightness of the day. No clouds break the piercing cobalt sky.

Hot, heavy air surrounds us all. Still, but alive with a buzzing so characteristic of the Australian summer. Insects hover and dance nearby. A cricket’s call carries across the paddock. A serenade. 

Beyond these sounds the silence is so deep you can hear the thrum inside your own body. A sound known to people who live in places absent of humans, where weather can be utter stillness.

The pungent smell of eucalyptus rolls down the hill as the sun warms the leaves of the mighty old tree. This tree has been sheltering those who wear their rich brown coats for hundreds of years. A thousand generations ago the people that walked this land called her ancestors wanggami. Now people across the world say kangaroo.

Turning her face towards the field, the wanggami begins a slow languid roll in her mouth, grinding grass and leaves to smooth paste. Her small arm flicks a fly from her ear and she stretches again for a moment, before settling back to the comfortable chew.

Closer to the ground, her belly begins punching outward. She doesn’t seem to notice. A foot appears, followed by a small head and another arm that together stretch and yawn. Mum looks at her young, while gently touching his small head. He responds by rolling sideways, out of her pouch and onto the ground. 

Standing high on his toes, he tries to balance on his tail. He hasn’t mastered this pose yet, but clearly delights in the moment. As youngsters do, he soon abandons his practise and tears off around the tree, hopping and falling and hopping again. 

Mum watches, but not too closely. She is more attentive to the roll of grass in her mouth.

The kangaroo family are Macropods which includes kangaroos, wallabies, tree-kangaroos, pademelons, quokkas, and several others. This wonderful collection of animals are all unique to the Australian continent. 

The macropod family vary in size, but most have large hind legs, long, powerfully muscled tails and long, narrow hind feet with a middle toe that is large and strong. Their elongated feet provide enormous leverage for their legs that have a unique ability to store elastic energy in their tendons. The spring action of the tendons provides most of the energy needed for each hop, rather than muscular effort. 

What many people don’t realise is their hopping is also linked to breathing. Air is expelled from their lungs as their feet leave the ground, by what amounts to an internal piston; bringing their feet forward, ready for landing, fills their lungs again, providing further energy efficiency. Studies of kangaroos and wallabies have showed that, beyond the minimum energy used to hop at all, increased speed needs little extra effort. They also need little extra energy to carry weight; something that is of obvious importance to mothers carrying young in pouches.

The kangaroos I am watching are a subspecies of the western grey kangaroo, commonly known as the Kangaroo Island kangaroo, _Macropus fuliginosus fuliginosus_. It has always amused me that they are not grey, almost as if their coat colour is their island defiance against the mainstream. Most of us that live here defy one thing or another!

The Ngarrindjeri Aboriginal people who once walked these lands, before the island separated from the mainland, probably called them wanggami. It’s a bewtiching name.

The western grey kangaroo is one of the largest macropods in Australia. Males weigh around 50 kg and stand well over a metre. Females are about two thirds that weight and height. Males compete for females during the breeding season, with ‘boxing’ contests, where they lock arms, swat faces and try to push each other over. Occasionally they balance on their tails and lift their powerful back legs off the ground, then plunge their feet towards their opponent’s abdomen. This is risky for the recipient because the strong middle toe has an equally large and strong claw. The dominant male left standing – and not eviscerated – is the one who mates. Embryos are born after only a month, when a tiny being crawls to attach itself to their mother’s teat. They grow in the pouch for around 5 months. 

Life for most kangaroos is not as idyllic as those I am watching now. Estimates vary depending on who is telling the story, but many thousands of wild kangaroos are killed in Australia for their skins and fur for leather products and meat, most often for pet food. A great many macropods are also killed or injured in road accidents each year, when crossing from one part of a grazing area to another on the opposite side of the road. Large areas of land are still being cleared in Australia for housing and shopping centres, farming, mining and timber logging. Every time land is cleared, macropods are forced to move to different areas where food and water may not be available. Or, they simply die. Since Europeans arrived at least 65 macropod species have become extinct.

The quiet scene before me does face such trials. Her family, out of sight but certainly nearby, have large areas to roam, abundant water and enough space to not conflict with farming needs.

The food in her mouth now attended to, she leans forwards and begins the distinct kangaroo amble that Australian’s know so well. Two front feet and a massive tail hold her balance, while she lifts her back legs up and forward. Settling on her back feet, she take the weight off forearms slightly, munching grass as she goes. With this slow locomotion, she ambles her way into the full brunt of the sun. 

She is even more beautiful in the full sun. Big doe eyes and a rich chocolate coast reflect deep golden flecks, making her spiritual partnership with the tree complete.

The youngster has tired and hops over to mum. He paws her face and ears, his little chin lifted to the sky, practising another pose that will be crucial to his future. She responds by clamping his head in a tight embrace of her forearms and caressing his face with her tongue. It’s not possible to see his expression, but imagining a grimace doesn’t seem a stretch.

The cleaning done, he leans forward, plunging his face into her pouch. Rising on his toes he tips his whole body forward in a well practised action that rolls him deep inside. A few punches and stretches and he has found his preferred spot. Mum resumes her amble.

Suddenly she stands, alert. Her ears tune purposefully towards a sound beyond human hearing.  Rigid for an instant that stretches time then, with three powerful bounds, she is lost from sight beyond the hill’s crest. 

I presume she has returned to her family, but will never know. I am content to know she lives here and that she and her youngster are among my closest neighbours.


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## Bard_Daniel (Dec 15, 2016)

WildPolitics, this is a good piece the only thing is the beginning, I think, was not the quickest in grasping my attention. From the point where you describe the kangaroo in the pouch, however, you got my attention and interest and kept me there throughout the rest of the essay. I think with a little tinkering the beginning could be stronger. Just my opinion though!

Thanks for the read!


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## Plasticweld (Dec 17, 2016)

The opening takes away from your message and dilutes it.  My gut reaction and it maybe because I am a guy is that your opening taints your perspective of the scientific observations you offer.  Kind of  a Disney version of a Scientific American article.  Is this a feel good piece or a informative piece?  I liked the information you supplied and how you did it, switching back and forth for me did not work but that may be for a guys perspective and others may find it a charming way of getting the reader into what your seeing.  I think the article stands well with the way you presented the information and once you got going found that it read well and was well paced.


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## WildPolitics (Dec 19, 2016)

Thanks Plasticweld. It's a feel good piece - targeted at a wildlife loving market. I appreciate the feedback


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## WildPolitics (Dec 19, 2016)

Thanks Danielstj. I'll have another look at the beginning to see if I can up the pace a bit. I appreciate the feedback


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## WordAddict (Feb 3, 2017)

I very much enjoyed your writing.  Your description of the kangaroo and the scene were very elegant and well done and drew me into the story though I didn't know your intent until later on.  (Which is not necessarily a bad thing).  Just a few suggestions and housekeeping points:

_"With this slow locomotion, she ambles her way into the full brunt of the sun. 

 She is even more beautiful in the full sun."
_
Two full suns too close together.  Maybe rephrasing?

_"The quiet scene before me does face such trials."  _This sentence didn't make sense to me.

When I read, I appreciate good writing and learning something I didn't know before.  Your piece succeeded on both counts.


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