I have about 2 terabytes of footage from trail cameras documenting the secret life of wombats.
Of particular interest to me is the life of Jophess. His real name is Joseph, but he's too young to pronounce it properly.
Jophess grew up 500m from my front door, next to a waterhole in Yengo National Park. I first noticed him as a little lump in his mother's pouch. I had never monitored a joey long-term before, so I decided to take up the challenge.
I set up a series of remotely activated trail cameras around their burrow, and kept them rolling for about a year.
There are countless precious and fascinating moments that occurred over that year. Far too many to upload online. But here are some of my favourite little pieces of Jophess' childhood:
I'll upload more as they get dug up. Pun intended.
This sort of footage fascinates me. There really isn't a lot known about what wombats do after the sun goes down, and this incredible technology offers us a glimmer of insight into these nocturnal happenings.
I was very lucky to have such a charismatic subject for this project. I feel honoured to have watched Jophess graduate from a hairless bean to an independent, rambunctious teenager.
Although Jophess has since moved out of his mother's waterhole home, he still pops by for a visit every now and then. I wish him all the best.
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