Morris the Wombat

Meet Morris the Wombat, whom I met in Tasmania this January (from my moleskine journal).  Morris is an orphan, found on the highway circling the body of his deceased mom. Very sad. In January 2010 he hanging at the Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary in Tasmania.  Soon he will be reintroduced back into the wild because he is approaching adolescence-- and will change from his affectionate self into one morose, aggressive wombat until he's in "circulation."  Morris will be using his butt callous to protect himself out there:  Wombats defend themselves from Tasmanian tigers (or now, dogs) by heading deep into their burrow and then, when the predator sticks its nose into the hole, the wombat crushes that snout between his big butt callous and the tunnel roof.... In short, he's a hard ass.