Today is Wombat Day, a day to celebrate those wonderful marsupials found only in Australia.

The only time I remember seeing a wombat in the wild was as a child, on a slushy snowy mountainside, possibly Mt Buller, on a day trip with my family. It was probably the first time I’d seen snow too. The wombat was large, sturdy, and somehow mysterious. Despite its bulk, I seem to remember it vanished from sight almost as soon as we’d spotted it.

I have one wombat poem, which is currently out on submission to a magazine. If it doesn’t find its way into print before next year’s Wombat Day, I’ll publish it here.

I think we could all do with more wombat content in our lives, so here are couple of photos from Unsplash, a great site for free to use images. And on a more serious note, wombats, like many of Australia’s unique species, are under threat from habitat loss, disease and the effects of climate change. You can find out more from WIRES, Australia’s largest wildlife rescue organisation.