What is a wombat? A few months ago, I didn’t even know they existed. Then I had an unusually intimate encounter with them.
Wombats are marsupials who weigh 44 to 75 pounds and live around 15 years in the wild. They are nocturnal and mainly stay in their tunnels during the day. These tunnels can reach up to 600 feet in length and become safe havens for other creatures during fires. Their pouches face backward so dirt doesn’t get in them when they are digging their tunnels. One of the strangest things is that their feces are shaped like angular cubes. Experts think this keeps their feces from rolling away when they are marking their territory.
Our first encounter with a wombat was at the Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary in Tasmania, Australia. We took a group tour and then participated in a small group encounter with another rescued wombat. We fed her carrots, patted her, and appreciated her cuteness. When our time was up, we didn’t want to leave.
A few days later, we drove to Cradle Mountain National Park and immediately signed up for their nighttime safari. They said this was our opportunity to see nocturnal animals in their natural habitat. That meant we might see Tasmanian devils, local possums and wombats!
On the safari ride that night, we spotted all their advertised animals from inside the truck. Then the truck stopped, and we began walking single file on a boardwalk through an area that was known for wombats.
From the boardwalk, our guide pointed out wombats with his spotlight so we could see them feeding on the grass at the distance. After about 20 minutes, we were directed to turn around and walk back to the truck for our ride back to the lodge.
At this point, Anne and I lagged behind at the back of our dozen person group. We had hoped to see some wombats up close. We didn’t want to go back yet.
While we continued to walk back to the truck, our guide casually pointed out another couple of wombats on a small hill in the distance that were slowly walking in our direction.
Then, all of a sudden as if possessed, these two wild wombats started running and tumbling at high speed down the hill towards us. They slammed into the boardwalk between Anne and me, making us worry about their condition. But they brushed off their crash and jumped up on the boardwalk in a daze.
Anne was so taken by this experience that she was frozen in awe. Finally, it dawned on her to take pictures. She had put away her camera thinking the expedition was over, so she had to rummage through her backpack to find it.
The two wombats were now waddling towards me and abruptly stopped at my feet. They circled me multiple times checking me out. I couldn’t move because they were directly beneath me between my legs.
This interaction lasted a good 10 seconds before they moved on down the boardwalk. Anne was able to get one picture as they moved away. The rest of the group had stopped and turned around to watch this fascinating event.
On the ride back to the lodge, our guide explained that this was an exciting evening. He said he had given these tours for many years and had never before seen this type of intimate behavior from a wild wombat. He was as amazed. We were giddy. Everyone was thankful.
The next morning, we decided to intuitively look at this interaction to understand what had occurred the night before.
First, we intuitively saw that the intimate encounter we had a few days before with the rescued wombat at the Sanctuary made us comfortable around the wild wombats on our safari. We were relaxed in their environment.
Second, at an energy level, the wombats felt appreciated by us and wanted to play. They felt comfortable in our presence. They felt like we had the energy of fellow wombats.
Third, we related to them from our hearts rather than our heads. We were in the space of a walking meditation that night. We were communing with nature.
Fourth, I had a strong desire to have another intimate encounter with a wombat because, when I met the wombat at the Sanctuary, it was amazing. I sent that request out into the universe like a prayer. Then I let it go. I had learned to do this after years of studying intuition.
I knew that if I “needed” something, I would only push that thing away. So, instead, I put out my strong preference and let the universe work its magic and bring back to me what I was ready to receive at that time.
Familiarity, appreciation and being purposefully centered in my heart set the space for my encounter. Then relaxing into the evening with an open attitude gave the universe the space to answer my prayer.
In your creating, know what you want, make your request and then relax into whatever comes back to you. By being calm, grounded and appreciative the universe, and wombats, will find you attractive!
To learn more visit Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary: https://www.bonorong.com.au