Pouch Life

When you were born you were very small. But you were not as tiny as a baby kangaroo. At birth a baby gray kangaroo, called a joey, is the size of a jellybean.

A newborn joey has no hair and cannot see. But it can crawl. After it is born it tears its way out of its birth sac. Then it climbs up its mother's furry belly. Three minutes after it starts climbing, the pink baby reaches its mother's pouch and slips inside.

There the joey sniffs and feels to find a nipple. For the next few months it stays attached to the nipple, drinking its mother's milk and growing. While a joey is in the pouch; its mother sticks her head inside to lick her baby clean.

When it is about six months old, the joey wriggles and turns and pokes its head outside. Now its eyes are open, and hair grows on its body.

A few months later the joey is big enough to leave the pouch for the first time. Mother kangaroo relaxes her pouch muscles, and the joey falls out. Sometimes a joey tumbles out when it stretches to pick grass. After a minute of standing on wobbly legs, the joey puts its head back in the pouch. The mother bends forward, and the joey kicks with its hind legs to somersault inside.

As the joey grows it spends more time out of the pouch. It hops a few feet from its mother but soon returns. Occasionally Mother kangaroo hops away. Then she stops and lets her joey catch up, teaching the joey to follow her.

Around its first birthday, a joey leaves the pouch for good. But it stays near its mother, and pokes its head into her pouch to drink milk. By then, there may be another tiny joey growing in the pouch.

The joey wanders a short distance away to eat grass. But even after the joey stops drinking milk, it follows Mother kangaroo and rests with her. If there is danger, Mom calls with a click and the joey hops back to be safe near its mother.

Copyright Carus Publishing Company Sep 2004
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved