Cindy Fullbright, age 10, Weaverville, North Carolina, for her question:
Does the kangaroo have a voice?
The kangaroo is a fascinating fellow but he is not a chatterbox. Far frf it. He seems to have only one word to say for himself and he would rather not say anything at all. But there are a few times when a remark is necessary. Then he utters a rather grumpy sort of grunt.
Most animals have quite a lot to say for themselves and lately scientists have become interested in what they have to say. Most of their sounds seem to convey meaning of some kind. But so far, only Dr. Doolittle has achieved any marked success in talking to the animals. True, you know what your cat means when she purrs and what your dog means when he growls at the postman. Marine biologists have learned a few code words used by the porpoises. But so far we have not learned to carry on everyday conversations with the world of animals. Andy's Siamese cat insists on a daily chat. Questions are asked and answered by both sides. But Andy suspects that neither he nor his cat know what the catty conversation is about.
One of the chattiest continents is Africa where the lion roars and the rhino grunts, the elephant trumpets and the hyena laughs, the crocodile hisses and the jackal barks. Birds and assorted monkeys add to the babble and the noisy continent. But the island continent of Australia is very quiet. Here we find the kangaroo and his 40 or so small kangaroo cousins, plus a wide assortment of marsupial relatives. Our native marsupial, the opossum, is limited to a hiss of alarm. On rare occasions the giant kangaroo coughs a throaty grunt. All the other members of the marsupial clan also have very limited vocabularies.
The tree kangaroo utters a louder grunt with a nasal twang. Some of the small¬er wallaby kangaroos use a foot to supplement their grunt remarks. When danger threatens, they warn their friends with a stamping drum signal. Baby wallabies have been known to bleat like scared lambs. The tree dwelling koalas have little to say. But sometimes their babies gurgle and a love sick male may wail loud blue notes through the night. When captured, a cuddly koala may mutter an angry buzz buzz protest. The bandicoot marsupial signals alarm with a cry like a cracked whistle and the marsupial wolf utters a flat, husky cough that ends with a throaty gurgle. The Tasmanian devil has a few more words. He often startles the night with a whining bark that ends with a snorty growl. And when angry, he can fling out a toothy snarl or gurgle a threat that sounds like sawing wood.
The kangaroo and his marsupial cousins have voices but they use their very limited vocabularies only rarely. Zoologists claim that their mental powers also are limited and chatty conversation may be too much for them to grasp. In any case, most of them are gentle vegetarians who need to spend lots of time grazing and browsing. Noisy chit chat attracts attention and perhaps it is wise to stay quietly hidden from hungry predators.