Another update on the status of the real Digger–an orphaned wombat from Australia who’s rehab people very kindly provided me with lots of useful wombat info, and have been keeping me posted about my character’s namesake.
Despite all the odds stacked against many rehabbed wild animals, Digger’s done well. Her broken leg healed nicely, and she’s packed on a lot of meat. (I am told she’s a porkpie for a wombat, although how you can tell, I’m not really sure–the whole species is sort of genetically chunky!)
She’s nearly ready for release now, which means that she alternates between “Pet me! Love me!” and “GoawayARRGGGHH!” Wombats are adorable and affectionate as babies, but get very surly and solitary as adults, which is why they make lousy pets. Her caretakers hope that by spring, she’ll have lost the rest of her imprinting on humans, and just be grumpy and ready to go.
There’s a YouTube video of the Real Digger and her caretaker, Donna (and a great example of the alternation between affectionate and surly…) Video is pretty low quality rendering, but plays fast as a result.
