Wombats, the hobbits of the Australian bush

Dante Rosetti weeping beside his deceased wombat

Wombats have been described as the ‘hobbits of the Australian bush’ - living underground, they are content, intelligent, mysterious and unassuming folk. Could JRR Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit’ have been inspired by the Australian wombat, as he searched for an unassuming hero for his first novel?
Coincidentally, wombats were a very popular pet in England in the mid–late 1800’s, so much so that the British declared 1857 ‘The Year of the Wombat.’ The famous English poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti considered wombats 'were the most beautiful of gods creatures' and wept bitterly after the death of his wombat. He wrote this poem:
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‘OH how the family affections combat,
within this heart, and each hour flings a bomb at
my burning soul! Neither from owl nor from bat,
can peace be gained until I clasp my wombat.’

It’s very likely that JRR Tolkien, who was born in 1892, would have been aware of this wombat obsession of the British. With this thought in mind, I have included the opening paragraphs of The Hobbit. You can decide if Tolkien’s hobbits were inspired by the unassuming, though at times heroic, Australian wombat:

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Wombats, the hobbits of the Australian bush. Artwork: 'Tourmaline the Whale'

The (HOBBIT) WOMBAT

Chapter 1
An Unexpected Party

‘In a hole in the ground there lived a (hobbit) wombat. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: It was a (hobbit) wombat-hole, and that means spacious comfort.

It had a perfectly round ‘door’ like a porthole, which opened on to a tube shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke... The tunnel wound on and on, going fairly but not quite straight into the side of the hill...

…I suppose (hobbits) wombats need some description nowadays, since they have become rare and shy of the Big People, as they call us. There is little or no magic about them, except the ordinary everyday sort which helps them disappear quietly and quickly when large stupid folk like you and me come blundering along, making a noise like elephants, which they can hear a mile off.

They are inclined to be fat in the stomach, wear no shoes because their feet grow natural leathery soles and thick brown hair like the stuff on their heads. They have clever brown (fingers) paws, good natured faces and a deep (fruity) grunty laugh, especially after dinner, which they have twice a day if they can get it.

Now you know enough about (hobbits) wombats to go on with.’

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Wombat poo is a cube-shaped territory marker - it doesn't roll off logs and rocks, a good height to warn other wombats. Isn't nature remarkable!

Remarkable wombat facts:
​Conversation starters

• Wombat poo is cube-shaped, so it doesn’t roll off rocks and logs. Every evening the average wombat deposits 80 - 100 droppings marking its territory
• Wombats sleep during the day, often on their backs with feet in the air
• Wombats can run faster than most humans and can run up to 40 km/h in short bursts
• They can also turn sharply which makes them difficult to catch
• The koala is their closest relative. 

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Social life

• ​​A small group of wombats is called a ‘wisdom’
• Wombats are shy though curious, so they have been known to become very friendly with humans (see Brigitte’s story below)
• Adults are solitary, however they share burrows at times when their territories overlap
• Wombats like to socialise with other wombats. Over several weeks they may visit more than a dozen burrows across their territory.

                         Fig. Wombats at Kalora shelter
                                            Photo: Brigitte Kny 

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All you need to know about wombats, in a rhyme
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Hairy or bare nosed, wombats are short legged and chunky,
eating coarse grasses, mosses and sedges, sweet tubers and fungi,
fierce when cornered, their character’s quite spunky.

You may spot them at night or when daylight is fading,
cube scats mark their home, which is biologically amazing,
and a scented signal on logs to stop neighbours invading.

Powerful legs dig long and wide tunnels, often extending,
wombats can run fast to escape fires or intruders harassing,
their tunnels give safe refuge to wildlife, if danger’s impending.

Motherhood & joey

• Wombats have a back-facing marsupial pouch, designed to stay clean when they dig
• The newborn wombat joey looks like a grey jellybean. It’s suckles in its mothers pouch for 10 months and is nurtured for another 10 months until it leaves home
• The Joey is fully grown after 2 years.
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Fig. 120gm Wombat joey rescued after its mother was killed by a car. Photo: Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife

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Vital statistics

• Adult wombats weigh 40kg, similar to a medium sized dog
• They live up to 15 years in the wild and 20 years in captivity
• Wombats have poor vision and rely on their sense of smell to find food.
• They eat native grasses, mosses, sedges, rushes, succulent plant roots and fungi
• They graze 3 to 8 hours at night, travelling many kilometres within their territory/home-range of 5 - 25ha.

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Wombat warrens

• Sometimes over 100m long and hundreds of years old, passed down through wombat generations
• They have multiple entrances and are usually several metres deep
• Warrens are important fire refuges for other native wildlife.

Fig. Entrance to  a wombat warren.
​Photo: Rosie Nicolai

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The 'wombat boy'

65 years ago in 1960, a 16 year old school-boy produced a piece of natural science that in many ways has never been equalled.

Peter John Nicholson was adventurous and loved animals, so during his year in the Victorian high country at Geelong Grammar’s Timbertop campus, he snuck out at night and ventured underground to study the local wombats. He was patient, visiting regularly and often, so the wombats got to know him. Often crawling as far as 21m along wombat burrows, taking measurements, he drew maps of their tunnels.

His observations published in 1962 are still referred to by scientist today. His extraordinary story was told on the ABC's Australian Story in March 2002, though disappointingly it is no longer available.

The Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat that Peter studied is now almost extinct, with only 400 animals remaining.
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Wombat’s 'rear' defense

• Wombats use their rump to block their warren entrance to unwanted feral intruders like foxes, cats and dogs

• They can crush the skulls of feral animals against the burrow walls using their hard rump and powerful legs.

Brigitte and Karl at their home, once shared with Waldo the wombat

Brigitte’s story
Brigitte Kny writes wonderful accounts of caring for young wombats. Here are two short extracts from her writing;
Caring for her first young wombat named Waldo with her husband Karl in their family home.
The challenges of designing a wombat shelter on their farm near Mount Macedon. 
Ref: Newham & District Landcare newsletter 

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Waldo at home at Kalora. Photo: Brigitte Kny

'We got our first wombat several years ago from another wildlife shelter that raised him from a tiny orphan till they could not properly accommodate him anymore. Of course we were keen to take him on – wombats are incredibly cute creatures with a HUGE personality and most wildlifers crave to raise one and refuse to share. So Waldo arrived at our house. He was slightly bigger than an “Aussie football” and his weight was around 6 or 7 kilos.

We were soooooo exited and had already lovingly set-up the bathroom next to our bedroom so that we were close to our new responsibility, could listen to any distress calls and of course bond with the wombat.

What we were NOT told however that wombats like “to bond” around 2 am. That’s when Waldo woke up and decided to explore his new surroundings and wanted to play with his new parents. He charged out of the bathroom, thundered deliberately several times into the mattress, tried to rip chunks out of our doona and attempted to jump onto the bed…’

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Wombat shelter at Kolora. Photo: Brigitte Kny

‘Wombats are also called ‘bulldozers of the bush’, an adult wombat weighs around 40 kg. They are very smart, stubborn, strong, tough, playful and individual characters. In the wild they dig burrows, sharpen their ever-growing teeth on logs and their powerful muscular body just pushes through obstacles – however all these normal traits makes having them in the house a rather challenging experience.
 
Designing a suitable outside enclosure was the next challenge. It had to be totally escape proof – meaning dig-proof, without corners which would be potential weak spots and any gate or entrance had to be thoroughly camouflaged (or they would bulldoze through it).

Eventually the design took shape: a big oval of corrugated iron dug into the ground 1.2m deep and cladded on the outside with natural timber. The artificial burrow would be a concrete pipe which could be opened eventually to the outside (for future release). Entry to the enclosure would have to be via an A frame ladder.’

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Wombat warrens are important fire refuges for other wildlife. Photo: Australian Geographic

How wombats benefit other wildlife
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• Wombat digging creates low areas where drinking water collects; kangaroos, wallabies, possums, emus and many bird species have been recorded drinking from wombat ‘craters.’ In one instance a crater had dried-out so the wombats dug it deeper until they found more water, excavating  4m deep x 20m diameter

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• Wombat warrens provide important refuge used by a variety of wildlife during bushfires
  
  
• Wombats prefer to burrow in areas with native vegetation and rocky debris. Land clearing has forced them to build burrows along creeks and drainage lines where vegetation still exists. Wombats have been incorrectly blamed for causing erosion, which is more likely due to poor land management practices
  
  
• Wombats create deep soil disturbance that brings minerals and buried, preserved seed to the surface. This process enriches the soil and helps to restore lost vegetation.

 
Establishing revegetation areas away from creeks plays a vital role in reducing wombat burrowing activity along creek beds. Retaining existing trees, logs and rocks, and establishing new areas of native vegetation, encourages wombats to construct burrows in less fragile areas, reducing the risk of erosion.

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Keeping wombats healthy

Sarcoptic mange is an emerging infectious skin disease affecting wombats. It is caused by a mite (Sarcoptes scabiei) that burrows into their skin, causing inflammation, hair loss and intense itchiness. A resulting secondary infection can kill a wombat.

If you are concerned about a particular wombat that appears to be affected by mange, you can contact a wildlife rehabilitation organisation. See the following link: www.wildlifevictoria.org.au/learn/fact-sheets/mange
The NSW Environment & heritage department also has a program to combat mange in wombats. See this link to ‘Living with Wombats,’ https://search.app/bBrEVBhC3PGgjBia6

On wombats and hobbits
James Woodford, 'The secret life of wombats' 

​‘Wombats are the hobbits of the Australian bush, living underground and perceived as idle and unadventurous. They are retiring solo folk, who give the impression of potential unfulfilled – neckless, stubborn, ferocious when cornered, intelligent, cute and mysterious.’