Animal Facts:
The Eastern grey kangaroo is endemic to Australia and belongs to the group of marsupials.
Kangaroos are the largest mammals that hop when moving around. This is an energy-saving form of travelling, well-suited for covering great distances in little time. Hopping actually requires less energy the faster a kangaroo moves, enabling it to pick up speeds of up to 64 km/h.
And their bodies are perfectly adapted for hopping. Aside from using their long, muscular tail to keep their balance and steer when jumping, they use it as a fifth leg to propel themselves forward. Additionally, they have tendons in their hind legs, which act like rubber bands being stretched, releasing energy as soon as they contract.
When moving more slowly, for example, when grazing, the kangaroo uses its shorter forearms as well as its tail to support its weight while moving its hind legs forward. This is called crawl-walking.
What kangaroos cannot do, however, due to the shape of their legs and tail, is to walk or hop backwards.
Kangaroos eat grass, flowers, leaves, ferns and moss. Like cows, they have chambered stomachs so they need to regurgitate their food and chew it again before it is digested.
Eastern grey kangaroos are social and live in groups that are called mobs, courts or troops, which comprise up to twenty animals of both sexes.
A mob has a dominant hierarchy. The dominant male – known as a buck, boomer, jack or old man – is the only one allowed to mate with the females in the group.
Whenever two male kangaroos fight over dominance and breeding rights, they kick and box at each other with their hind- and forelegs.
Meanwhile, when they’re faced with a predator, aside from kicking it or fleeing at high speed, kangaroos also have a lesser-known strategy to defend themselves. If there’s a body of water nearby, they jump into it and use their front paws to hold their opponent underneath the surface until they drown.
Knowing this, it makes sense that kangaroos can swim. While they can’t move their hind legs separately from each other when they are on land, they can kick each leg independently when in water.
Usually, when it’s too hot during the day, kangaroos will rest in the shade. They also lick their forearms, which have blood vessels just underneath the skin. And when the moisture evaporates, it cools their body down.
A widely known fact about kangaroos is that the females – which are called does, jills or flyers – have pouches. They can have two young, called joeys, at the same time, at different developmental stages. An older joey who lives outside the pouch but who is still drinking its mother’s milk and a younger joey, which lives in its mother’s pouch. Additionally, they can carry an embryo, which is yet waiting to be born. Female kangaroos are almost always pregnant, as they can delay birth for as long as necessary until the pouch is empty. Additionally, they can also delay gestation – for example, when there’s a drought or famine – which is called diapause.
The mother provides her young with two types of milk: a high-protein milk for the younger joey, which needs to grow fast, and a high-fat milk for the older joey since it’s already active and needs more calories.
A joey is born when it’s basically still an embryo and only as big as a grain of rice. From the birth canal, it blindly crawls upwards into the pouch. There it feeds and grows, attached to a nipple, while being protected from outside threats.
A female kangaroo has strong muscles around her pouch, which she can tighten when taking big leaps so that her young won’t fall out.
When the joey is older, it’ll start to spend more time outside of the pouch, exploring the world. But they stay close to their mother in the beginning and dive head-first back into the pouch when they’re frightened.
Some spiritual meanings:
Hopping allows the kangaroo to cross great distances while using up little energy.
Kangaroo people are known to have good stamina.
You don’t need to overexert yourself to reach your goals. Trust in your abilities; you’ll gain momentum the farther you go.
Kangaroos can only move forward, not backwards.
Now is the time for you to jump ahead and take a leap of faith – the bigger the better.
Are you afraid to move on? Are you maybe hanging on to something from your past? Or you anxious about the changes you need to make?
Don’t look back at what has been. The present is what paves your road to the future.
Males are boxing each other when they are competing for the right to mate.
Do you know what you want and take action?
Or are you too competitive?
Focus on your own strengths instead of on other people.
The kangaroo has great mothering skills.
Nurture and protect what you hold dear to your heart.
Do you need to birth new projects?
Or do you need to nurture existing ones?
You might also be ready to take on the responsibility of parenthood when the kangaroo hops into your life.
The kangaroo gives birth to immature young.
Ask yourself if you are giving ‘birth’ to things too early.
Do you need to take more time before you show your ideas to the world?
Or is this the best method for you – getting your ideas out while they are still a work in progress?
The nipple swells to fix the younger joey’s mouth in place.
This tells us of the fact that more growth is yet to come.
Take the time you need to heal your inner child and nurse it.
The kangaroo’s nipples provide different milk, depending on the needs of the joey.
Are you receiving what you need?
Also, adjust your diet according to your activities.
The joey jumps in and out of the pouch for some time before being weaned completely.
You might not want to commit to one path yet. Stay flexible, as even better opportunities might come along.
If you want to read up on more spirit animals or want to learn more about spiritual topics in general, pick up a copy of my book “Willow and Strix – A spiritual journey” ©, available as a paperback or ebook (free for kindle unlimited users) US – UK – DE and in other countries
A. Wakan's Spirit Animals 