Trivia question for May-08-2011

I know, yet another day where we are posting our trivia so late.  We are sorry but Carter competed in soccer tournaments in Greenville South carolina this weekend and as soon as we got home we ran into Atlanta to participate in the iMatter March along with our friends from Captain Planets ‘Atlanta Planeteers’.  We will post pics and video clips later this week.

So while we drove back from South Carolina to Georgia, Carter came up with his trivia for today.  He picked this creature because he liked their name.  Lets see how you do figuring this one out:  These are tough and nimble marsupials and are kind of like a hairy, miniature form of a wallaby.

These guys have no fear of humans and it is common for it to approach them closely, particularly on Rottnest Island. It is, however, illegal for members of the public on Rottnest Island to handle the animals in any way. An infringement notice carrying a A$300 fine can be issued by the Rottnest Island Authority for such behavior.  However, prosecution of the offense can result in a fine of up to $2000

So here are Carter’s questions:  How long after giving birth do the females wait before they will mate and also explain why they wait this period.  Also these guys are endangered of becoming extinct and can only be found in a few remote areas including Rottnest Island.  Tell us what the name of the island means.

Good Luck 😉

Answer:

Congratulations to Wilma for sending the correct answers in first.  Olivia came home from school and checked FB and saw that no one had answered correctly so she was all excited.  Then we checked Twitter and found Wilma’s response.  Great job.  The furry critter we featured is the Quokka.  The Quokka is a small macropod about the size of a domestic cat. Like other marsupials in the macropod family (such as the kangaroos and wallabies), the Quokka is herbivorous and mainly nocturnal. It can be found on some smaller islands off the coast of Western Australia, in particular on Rottnest Island just off Perth and Bald Island near Albany.

Females mate the day after giving birth to ensure that at least one offspring survives each year.  The Quokka was one of the first Australian mammals seen by Europeans. The Dutch mariner Samuel Volckertzoon wrote of sighting “a wild cat” on Rottnest Island in 1658. In 1696 Willem de Vlamingh mistook them for rats and named the island “Rattenest”, Dutch for “rat nest”.  Here is more on these resilient mammals.  Quokka

Thanks for playing along 😉