Wild Fact #867 – No Need for Name Calling – Numbat
Well we all had a very nice trip to New Zealand yesterday but I think it is time to make one last stop in Australia before heading out on our next adventure. Today we are going to look at yet another marsupial called the Numbat. I kid you not folks! I don’t even think I could make these names up.
The numbat is also known as the Banded Anteater. My guess is they prefer to be called the banded anteater over the “Numbat”. This little marsupial can only be found in small colonies in Western Australia. Does anyone have any idea what the Banded Anteater prefers to feed on? Of course, the majority of their diet is composed of termites. What?!? Did you think I was going to say something else? Surprisingly enough the numbat is able to consume almost 20 000 termites in a day. In order to be able to catch so many little termites in a day the numbat has evolved a long, sticky tongue which seems to work quite well.
Unlike most marsupials, the numbat is active mainly during the daylight hours. The numbat is required to wait until the termites are active in order to feed. Although, they have fairly strong claws, they are no match for the concrete-like termite mounds. The banded anteater is smart and applies the brains over brawn strategy for finding food. You see, they wait until the termites are in the underground tunnels between their feeding sites and their protective mound. The numbat is able to sniff them out and strike them while they are vulnerable. Pretty smart of the little numbat isn’t it?
Numbat Fast Fact: Although the numbat is a marsupial, they do not have a pouch that the young can climb into. For this reason the little numbats must cling to the belly fur.
Have a great day everyone!
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February 25th, 2010 at 9:46 AM
Oddly enough it sort of resembles a squirrel with stripes.
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Nathan Reply:
February 25th, 2010 at 8:26 PM
That is exactly what I thought when I looked at that picture!
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February 25th, 2010 at 12:11 PM
I wish we had numbats in our area – Southern California homes are constantly dealing with termites! I’d rather have a numbat take care of the problem instead of hiring an expensive termite control company.
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Nathan Reply:
February 25th, 2010 at 8:26 PM
We don’t have termites in Whitehorse but I still wish we had numbats up too! They look fun!
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February 25th, 2010 at 1:10 PM
oooh, cute
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Nathan Reply:
February 25th, 2010 at 8:27 PM
They are pretty cute, aren’t they?
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Larissa Reply:
February 26th, 2010 at 8:39 AM
@Nathan, Absolutely adorable!
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Nathan Reply:
February 28th, 2010 at 8:23 PM
Those numbat’s sure are adorable!!!