This painting, in Dot Art form, is
my depiction of the Australian Iconic Marsupial, (Macropodidae), the "Big
Red" or "Giant" Red Kangaroo; it is by far, the largest of the
Kangaroo species, standing up to 180 cms tall and has an extremely large and
powerful tail, which it uses with great skill, in its speed of jumping very
long distances in one single bound.
The reddish/brown background colour
represents this Native animal's chosen habitat, mostly dersert areas and
scrubland and devoid of many trees.
The 3 brown/yellow circles with
white dots represent the Billabongs, (muddy waterholes) that these animals
frequently drink from. The thick black lines also painted with white dots,
represent the tracks/trails made by these Kangaroos leading to and from these
Billabongs (waterholes).
The name Kangaroo was given to this
wonderful animal by chance, by mistake, actually. After arrival of the British
on the first fleet to Sydney Harbour in 1788, Officers and crew were amazed at
seeing such creatures and when they tried to communicate with the local
Aboriginal People to find out what these animals were called, the local tribes,
not knowing or indeed understanding what the white settlers were asking,
replied to what sounded like "Kangaroo", which the white settlers
took for being its name...and to this day, the nameremains.
Kangaroos and their relatives
Two Families of animals are
included in this grouping; the Macropodoids and the Potoroids. Members of both
families have short forelimbs and long hind feet that enable them to move in a
fast hopping gait. All have a pouch that opens forwards. Most are active at
night and seek shelter to rest during the day. Of the 40 species of macropods
found in Australia, only two occur elsewhere (in New Guinea). The family
contains kangaroos, wallabies, wallaroos, quokka, pademelons and ranges in size
from the Red Kangaroo at 1.8m (6ft)
and
90kg (198lb) down to the Monjon at 35cm (13in) and 1.4kg (3lb).
Red Kangaroos live over most of the
dry, inland, central part of Australia in areas where rainfall averages less
than 500 millimetres.
They prefer open plains habitats
with neither trees nor bushes. Theextensive area where the animals live
includes scrubland, shrub land, grassland, and desert habitats. These animals
feed mostly on grass and other vegetation. Sometimes they can do without water
feeding only vegetation for a long period of time. They are the best jumpers of
all mammals and can jump as high as 28 feet in distance and 6 feet in height;
their speed exceeds 30 mph. They can jump for hours at a speed of 12 mph. The
male Red Kangaroo is usually of reddish color and the female is bluish-gray.
Kangaroos have long, strong hind legs that help them tohop up to 40 miles per
hour and go over 30 feet in one hop. Femalesthat are quicker than males are
called does, flyers, roo or jill. Adult Red Kangaroos are called bucks, boomers
or jacks while a baby is called a joey.
They are also active at night, and
in the few hours after sunrise and sunset. They rest in the daytime especially
in the winter than in the spring or summer. There is usually an older leader
that leads the whole pack after him.
Facing danger these animals usually
scatter around trying to save themselves. Although when the period of mating
comes, the males become very aggressive and they are competing for females.
These fights are very dramatic as the males grip each other tightly with their
large fore claws and wrestle each other while balancing themselves on their
tails.
When the weather is very hot and no
rains are occurring, some males and females become infertile. But, as soon as
the drought is over, the mating period begins and the population of the animals
grows again. These are silent animals. The males make hissing and screaming
sounds while fighting with other males. Females and little Red Kangaroos make
soft clicking or tutting noises when communicating.
Medium: Acrylic Paint on Canvas Panel.
Painted: 2007.
Current Reviews: 0
This product was added to our catalog on Wednesday 02 January, 2013.