Koala Requests a Grooming

Bruce Atkinson of Apollo Bay, Victoria, Australia, found a koala on his porch Saturday morning. He took a picture and noticed it was covered with burrs. The koala wasn't going anywhere, so Atkinson offered it a bowl of water. The koala swatted it out of his hands. Thats' not what it wanted! But the creature didn't leave, so Atkinson got a pair of gloves and a brush.

He carefully approached the koala and let it sniff at the hair brush before attempting to brush the prickles out.

"I just gently poked the brush at some of the burrs," he said.

"Within seconds it decided, 'this is alright, I'll have more of this'."

Mr Atkinson said he was amazed at how benign the previously aggressive koala became once it was having its fur brushed.

He said he was able to remove most of the burrs and then collected some gum leaves for the koala, which hung around his house for the rest of the day.

It just goes to show that animals communicate well if you pay attention and give them a chance. Atkinson posted a video of the de-burring operation at the Otway Community Facebook group. -via Metafilter

(Image credit: Bruce Atkinson)