Information below is from Lynda Stakers book " Don't step backwards" ( with permission )
The female Red kangaroo is often known as a “Blue Flyer”, because of the smoky
blue colour, however, in some areas, her colour is that of the normally
accepted male Red kangaroo, namely .....’red’. In areas where the female is
found to be ‘red’, the male will be the smoky ‘blue’ colour.
Reds frequent the dry inland areas of Australia, and are the largest of the macropods,
although a very large male is not often encountered these days , as they have been shot out.
Their legs, from the heel to the femur, are longer than the second largest macropod,
the Grey Kangaroo.
When cleaning the joey, the mother consumes the faeces and urine, recycling about
a third of the water used in milk production. The red joey develops at a
faster rate than the Grey kangaroo, emerging from the pouch any time up to 3 months earlier.
Reds have their own endearing characteristics, they always look like they’ve got
the world’s troubles on their shoulders, (as far as their survival, maybe they do!)
Even the little joeys have that ‘troubled’ look, their little faces look like that
of old men, as their fathers do. The females have an ‘innocent’
look about them, with huge ‘pools’ for eyes.They have a passive temperament, not
as easily aggressive as the Greys, preferring to hop away, rather than
confront. They are very intelligent, and bond to only a few, when hand reared.
Trust has to be earned with reds.
The unfurred joey is easily identified in comparison to the Grey joey, as they
haven’t got the ‘bulbous’ forehead that the greys do, they have a wider
face and nose, are thicker set in the hands and feet, and have short fingernails,
more noticeably when they are adults.
They have ‘woolly fur in comparison to the grey’s thinner coat, and have so much
skin, that it would not be foolish to think that all reds were dehydrated!
You could almost pull their shoulder skin over their heads!
Red’s muzzles come in all types of splotches and dashes of either black and white,
or black, grey and white, or red mixed in. No two seem to be the same.
They have beautiful creamy white tummies, black fingers and toes, and the adults
squint their eyes almost closed, in the midday sun.
The one trait that reds have, that no other macropod tends to have, is the habit
of lying, stretched out on their backs, usually with their feet in the air.
It really is an amazing sight! The soles of their feet are also very different to
the greys’, very padded for the sandy terrain they inhabit, with tufts of fur
reaching down each side of, and between their toes. Their indescribable calling
sounds are like a tractor motor turning over, but not quite starting.
To bluff a male, you only have to get higher than him, with your arms above your
head, a captive animal will back down immediately you are taller than him.
They smell like mice, when confined.
The newborn joey is born within 4 days after the pouch joey has vacated the pouch
permanently, but still suckling from outside.
As with all macropods, it is up to the joey to stay with mum, and whilst young,
the mum tends to keep away from the mob, spending time teaching the joey about
‘life’ as a kangaroo. The young are weaned around the end of their first year.
Males can weigh up to 80 kilos, although not many survive to that size any more.
Some males may have to wait until they are about 70 kilos to have a bearing on
the breeding contribution, as the larger male is usually the more dominant.
They LOVE to dig........to china!
To raise a red, is a joy one never forgets!
Information below is from Lynda Stakers book " Don't step backwards" ( with permission )
