I was literally chased by a koala today. He looked like he was stuck in the gates area and was just waiting by the door, so I opened it to let him through. He ran straight for my leg. I backed up as fast as I could but those little guys gallop fast when they want to. He was grunting and grabbing for my foot. I wasn't sure what he would do if he caught me, all I could envision was having to go to a hospital because a koala attacked me. How embarrassing would that be. I could just hear the drop bear jokes now. He even had red eyes, but when I ducked behind a tree he climbed up it looking a little confused and grunting some more for good measure. Cat, the person who was working at the visitors center, said he just thought I was a tree and would have climbed up my leg. Not sure how I feel about being confused for a tree.

I also witnessed koala mating rituals this morning. I was putting flags out to point guests toward where koalas were and one of the females started making a grunting/ choking sound (apparently her mating call). A male in the next tree woke up, climbed down his tree, ran to hers, climbed to the first branch, and started barking at her ( apparently his return mating call). These are not pretty noises. I do have a video. When I went back, he was on top of her trying to hold her still but she was screaming bloody murder and biting and scratching him. He eventually backed off after almost falling out of a tree. This is what I wake up to out here.
I am volunteering at Hansen bay wildlife sanctuary. There are two other girls here too. We do lots, like koala surveys to know the population at any given time, siege planting to help the bees, and fence repair to keep out feral animals. We live in a farmhouse that is massive. It is very secluded; an hour from the nearest town.