Two juvenile wallabies with brown fur and a rock hyrax with mixed brown and gray tones in an outdoor grassy area with trees and open space, suggesting spring or summer with soft natural light. 3:18
Nature on PBS channel icon Nature on PBSOriginal creator 551K views Save

When a robot quokka drops by, a joey peeks out

A robot quokka with cameras for eyes ambles in among the real ones. It has come to see a joey who still rides in his mother's pouch. more

Quokkas are small wallabies, kangaroos scaled down, with round faces that always seem to be smiling. The spy was built for "Spy in the Wild 2" on PBS, which hides cameras inside lifelike animal robots so the real animals stay at ease and carry on as if no one is there. It mostly works.

The joey is just three months old. A small head pokes out of the pouch, and he takes in the strange visitor, glassy camera eyes and all, from close range. Like every quokka, he looks pleased about it.

Two juvenile wallabies with brown fur and a rock hyrax with mixed brown and gray tones in an outdoor grassy area with trees and open space, suggesting spring or summer with soft natural light. The headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
A robot quokka with cameras for eyes ambles in among the real ones.

For three months he has lived on his mother's milk. Now he's trying solid food, and the trouble is that he's getting too big for the pouch. It's already quite a squeeze to get out.

Once he's out, there's a big wide world to explore, and he tries it with a few little hops. He is going to need a lot of looking after.

A small brown furry animal with large ears stands alert and looks to one side against a blurred natural background. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Life outside the pouch means a lot to take in, and a lot to learn.

Then the spy sees another side of quokka life. For all their cuteness, quokkas will fight over food, especially tea tree. They stand up tall to pull leaves off the branches, and a good branch is worth a shove. Even the joey's mother is not keen to share.

A small furry animal stands on its hind legs and reaches up to eat leaves from a branch outdoors. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Quokkas stand tall to reach leaves, and they'll fight over food, especially tea tree.

With all that competition, the spy is on dangerous ground. At one point it gets knocked over. Then it gets itself back on its feet and carries on.

Its next move is a peace offering, and that seems to do the trick. For the joey, it has been quite enough adventure for one day.