Quokka
by Max Waugh
Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to see a quokka. My two volume National Geographic Book of Mammals only had one animal listed under the letter Q, and it's stuck with me ever since. So when I had the opportunity to visit Australia in April, I flew all the way across the country mainly to find the quokka.
This marsupial is primarily found on one small island outside of Perth, so we made a day trip out, and thankfully had no trouble finding them. The quokka has been dubbed "the world's happiest animal" thanks to its telltale smile. They're intensely curious creatures, so I spent much of my time trying to photograph them with a wide angle lens. Yes, the horizon is tilted here, but I liked the informal "snapshot" look of the whole thing.
Canon 1DX
Canon 17-40mm
ISO 800
1/500th
f/5
Max
Comments
6 commentsThanks very much for posting this rarity , a long journey well rewarded
This one really cracks me up - love it!
Have to say I had never heard of a Quokka before you posted this. Given the "perma-smile" on their face I can't think of a more fitting way to capture them (and their apparent personality). On this one I'm definitely willing to throw out the standard critique stuff like "is the horizon level?", etc.
Cheers and thanks for this one!
Brad
Jenaya, the quokka is a marsupial, so yes, it's a cousin of the wombat. We did see wombats for the first time on this trip as well. They were much larger than I expected... and rather sausage-like!
Max
Grt, Ingrid.