Events of Oct 2017

Our closet  neighbour lives about  5ks away. He turned up here saying that wombats had dug under his house and caused  a terrible mess. This guy has had his place here for about 30 years and has lived there permanently on and off and so have  wombats . I found it quite silly that in all that time he hadn’t boarded around the bottom of his house,  he is a builder!  Anyway he and his partner decided that the wombats under the house  had to be moved and they weren’t  having it any other way. I said that the wombats  should not be moved out of territory but put into a capture cage while a quick job of boarding up the bottom of the house was undertaken then let out there .As they knew that territory they probably would have been fine. Larry went with him to see what was going on . They had to do some digging and it turned out there was Mother wombat and baby who had somehow got separated by soil erosion. Another adult wombat was also stuck under there. The bloke wouldn’t consider the suggestion I had made even though Larry was willing to help him.  I completely withdrew from operations but poor Larry had to help as there seemed to be no alternative. The chap was determined to move them down here. They got the  adult male wombat out who was virtually buried in the dirt. They put 2 adult wombats out  male and female in 1 cage together as they had only the 1 large cage on hand not having realized there was 2 adults under there. The baby was put into  another smaller cage. How those 2 adults managed in there together I have no idea and the mother must have been frantic to be separated from the baby. I specifically said not to separate mother and baby but apparently it couldn’t be helped. Healthy adult wild wombats are something I certainly couldn’t handle alone so I can’t even imagine how they got them and into the cage.  I think the other adult was probably attacking the baby which caused the separation , commotion and erosion of the soil under there. I have seen this happening in the front yard so being under the house would certainly compound the situation. Mother wombats defend their young with determined ferocity when required.

Mum with baby in her pouch – what a dear little face peeping out!

There was no stopping these people from moving these animals .They were getting cows and had decided that wombats and roos no longer welcome.  Larry found a couple of burrows that looked to be unused on our land and the animals were released , mum & baby together at one burrow and the male at the other. Larry put support food and water  by the burrow entrances and tried to keep an eye on them. The following day Larry found the male about 2ks down the road, trying to get back home, he was dead, stressed of course and attacked. A day later Larry found the baby dead . It had been brutally attacked. He searched for the mother for several days but couldn’t find her and she was not using the burrow were she had been released, We don’t know what happened to her. Larry went and told these people what had happened and asked them not to move anymore wombats. They were hostile and didn’t care . They said they were going to start shooting , which they did. As we understand there was no authorization for these actions. We tried to get assistance from NPWS but no one was interested. They left dead baby kangaroos lined up at their gate so we would have to see them when driving to town. They left a dead wombat lying in one paddock on display and another adult dead by their gate on the side of the road on view. Larry called Ted Finnie ex wildlife vet at Taronga Sydney and Western Plains zoo and asked if he would be prepared to do an autopsy to determine cause of death and see if there was a lodged bullet in the animal , he was very willing. Larry called local police who also came on board to be present while his was happening . The time was set up for this to take place. Larry called NPWS ranger for his area who had refused to act to help in the past events and informed him this was taking place and asked if he wished to be present. The ranger had previously said he didn’t want to help because he didn’t want to make any enemies! The next day Larry went to meet Ted & Senior Constable Michael Blades to carry out the autopsy. When he got there the wombat had been removed. Ted and Michael were both on their way out to the spot but no contact from NP ranger. Only we knew that this happening so we believe  the perpetrators were told to remove the  dead wombat. We believe NP ranger did this.

It is illegal to shoot wombats or move them out of territory. We have found that NPWS don’t police any of this activity and turn a blind eye when asked for help. The penalty  faces a fine of up to $39,000 and a maximum of two years in jail. I don’t believe this is ever policed by rangers or imposed.

A very sad situation for our wonderful wombats .

It was a terrible situation for us as without backup from NPWS  we were helpless to stop it.

Mum with baby staying close but growing bigger.

Events of June 2017

Many years ago when Larry & I still lived in Coogee we heard that the local vet in  Merriwa, Ted Finnie, was an ex wildlife vet at Taronga zoo. Great news, as we thought when we were living here we would have this wonderful vet in town to call on for guidance with any wildlife that came into care. Larry had cause to take our dog Jack to Ted for some treatment once when he was in Merriwa and came back to Sydney and told me he was a very nice man who instilled confidence, that he knew exactly what needed to be done. Alas, once we finally moved here we were told Ted had retired and sold his practice to a young vet Anthea Wright who was originally from Merriwa , had gone off to do her degree and returned. Anthea was a lovely women and loved all animals but her main interest was with horses and farm animals .She was always willing to help if she could and give us medication when we knew what was needed. We heard from our NP ranger that Ted and his wife Jenny were still living at their property in Merriwa but I felt it was an imposition to call someone who was retired. I had contacted Ted by phone at his practice a few years previous after being advised to so by “Healsville Sanctuary” in Vic.  When I was possum Co Ordinator for WIRES in Sydney’s Eastern suburbs I needed some help regarding stress dermatitis that adult possums were coming into care with and also contracting while in care. Ted put me on the right track and I was able to get pathology done to show what it was and prove why it was happening. I always had this memory of how knowledgeable Ted was and happy to pass on that knowledge to me. Many people will not do this, due to some ego problem? It was easy it was once I talked to Ted. In the mean time I had done some research on the internet and also found that Ted was the first wildlife vet that Taronga zoo had and he had worked for over 10 years before transferring to Taronga Dubbo Western Plains Zoo where he worked for about 6 years. I also realized that Ted had made a very significant contribution to veterinary science, particularly  regarding wildlife.

 Fidel appeared one night with a badly swollen back leg ,limping. Catastrophe , what to do ? who would know ?and further more wombats the size of Fidel who had been free living for over 2 years, a major trauma to catch and transport which would probably result in death by stress. Throwing caution to the wind I rung Ted. I was terrified as I was  totally in awe of his knowledge and wondered how I was going to speak with him without him thinking “who is this fool on the line!”  The phone was answered by a woman, with many apologies for calling uninvited I explained the situation. The woman who was Mrs Jenny Finnie was so nice and told me not to worry that Ted would help . Actually it turned out that Jenny’s knowledge was very extensive also. She worked at Taronga as secretary to the board for years where she met and married Ted. She became his vet nurse in Merriwa for years and a carer of many different species of wildlife. She is is one of the kindest and gentle people I have had the good fortune to meet and call a friend. Anyway After some discussion it was decided Larry & I would get Fidel into a large cage and transport him to the wombat pen where he had been bought up. Not so easy……..  we had a very big cage that my niece Nina had given me which had once been used for Sunny dogs toilet training  when Sunny was a youngster.

We called her Sunny Sunshine was her name and that’s what she bought to all that met her!

We threw a large heavy blanket over Fidel and pushed and shoved , grunting and groaning we managed with great difficulty to shove him in. He was protesting, rockin ‘n; rolling around in there with the cage in danger of tipping over. We got the trolley and Larry somehow managed to heave the cage with Fidel ensconced into it and wheel it about 1/4 k over bumpy ground to the wombat pen. It’s most unfortunate I didn’t get a video as in hindsight it would have been amusing but it certainly wasn’t at the time, mass stress all round!! Fidel was not pleased about being locked up but accepted it and used his old burrow still in there. The next day Ted & Jenny came to our place for the first time. Their property is about 60k from our place. It’s a beautiful place about 10 times the size of ours and full of wildlife along with Ted’s cattle , Daisy donkey and her companions , a couple of sheep and beautiful Daisy dog and various others that have passed through there over the years. Fortunately Ted was able to observe Fidel over the fence and was able to diagnose the most probable cause , an abscess which could have been caused by a bite or the like . Just as well because Fidel had decided anyone who entered was a target for attack. Ted gave us some medication which was  crushed and put into a bowl of food we would give him morning and evening for 2 weeks .He still liked eating pellets when offered so that was good. Larry had devise a way of getting out quick once the food was delivered, despite being sick,  Fidel would “attack” any legs that were in his pen. Getting back out of the gate was impossible as Fidel was to fast so you couldn’t get the gate open in time. The only option was to climb up quickly beyond his reach!

Fidel fully recovered and was released from the pen. Larry observed him  for 4 hrs and tried to follow to find out where his burrow was.  He chased Larry a few times and he  went down all the burrows close to the pen and checked them out then headed off up the hillside where I believe his main burrow is and gave Larry the slip!

Poor Fidel sick in his pen.

Splendid Fidel – recovered!

Thanks to Ted Fidel lived on and thanks to Fidel we made 2 wonderful friends who love animals and the natural world as we do. Ted and Jenny are always around to help us with any animal care when we need it. Their help and friendship has enhanced our lives.

Ted & Tillie Finnie

Jenny’s swamp wallaby
“Tuffy Finnie”

June 2017 and it’s been well over a year since I updated . It doesn’t seem that long.

Here is a picture of Fidel taken in march 2016.

and he’s still visiting over a year later !

I will show you a recent one at the end of the post.

This year we realised we had a resident python “Monty” of course. I spotted him in the front yard one evening and when I went out the next morning found he had shed his entire skin .We have it in one long undamaged piece. Monty shows up in different places and also Larry moves him round the sheds to catch mice . One  morning he was curled up in the carrots. Another morning he came visiting my just vacated chair where I had my early morning cup of tea.

early morning visit , no tea left!

Monty in the front yard

Monty in the carrots

Over the past year we have seen some animals we haven’t seen before . A red-naped snake which Larry spotted outside one night. How he saw it I’m not sure as they don’t get very big even fully grown. He came in and got me then managed to find it again! Adults grow to about 40cm length. They mate once a year and the females lay 1-10 eggs per clutch .The eggs hatch in Jan or Feb and the hatchlings are about 12cm long. It was in Feb we saw this one. They are venomous but not dangerous and are listed as endangered in Vic and sparsely distributed else where so we were lucky to see this one. We released him after having a good look and taking this pic.

red/orange band around neck

In April last year Larry was in the NP with his nephew and family and they spotted  3 Emus. We used to see Emus all the time around here about 15 years ago then they seemed to vanish so it was great to know there are some still around.

3 Emus going for a stroll

Wonga Pigeon

Just a few weeks ago as I went out the back screen door a large bird came toward me flying very fast , scraped my arm with feet claws and hit the screen door , flew off to the side of the veranda and  landed on the rail for a few seconds before taking off. I didn’t know what it was but thought it looked like the large native NZ Pigeon but had a different under carriage.I got the bird book out and found it was a Wonga Pigeon . It turned out Larry had seen 2 together  when chopping some wood .They had flown up from the ground as he must have given them a scare. When I looked up the info on them I found they are  rarely seen in flight unless flushed. They forage on the ground and are sedentary and uncommon but can be locally abundant in areas of favourable habitat so we are on the lookout now. This  is an image I have taken off the internet.

Oct last year we had a mother wallaroo with a young  male baby around .The mother was sick  but we don’t know what was  wrong. She was thin,  had no energy and would loose balance at times .We think she bought her baby here as she felt it was safer place for him to be. We had this happen before with a red- necked wallaby. That baby was a bit older and he did survive even though he wasn’t getting any milk.

“Tiny ” little wallaroo orphan

despite our efforts making this hoop Tiny would not be captured!!

Mum wallaroo did die and we tried every way we could to try and catch the baby as he had only just come out of the pouch and we felt without milk he couldn’t get the nourishment he would need to thrive. He was very fast and knew when you were within 10 metres  and try as we might we couldn’t get him. We made a large hoop and tried to get him by dropping that over him but he was way to quick. We tried putting out milk formula in a dish but he wouldn’t go near it .We watched out for him every day and he was surviving but he didn’t seem to thrive .We would look through the binoculars and if we were  on the veranda  he would come really close as he knew we couldn’t get him from there! His fur didn’t look as good as it had and also his eyes looked rheumy. Then suddenly all the wallaroos disappeared into the hills and we didn’t see them for weeks. This happens sometimes then they all appear again. We couldn’t recognise Tiny after that so don’t know what happened to him.

Earlier this year I found Mani dead in the cockatiel cage. There was nothing obvious and it seems he simply “fell of his perch” as it is said. It happened when we had the awful heat wave in Dec 2016. He was never a big strong bird as he had come into care with giardia and almost totally featherless. Even though he completely recovered  he may not have been as strong because of his illness. I think the heat was to much for him . He lived for about 7 years after we took him in and I can’t say how old he was then .Just after Mani went to bird heaven  I found a  little one in the nest with a bit of twine round the foot. I decided I would do some hand rearing and called the tiny creature “small Mani” who is now big Mani and back in with the flock.

small Mani

small Mani getting feathers

Mani beautiful now

 Last year we had a few tawnies in care . They came to us through members of the public  via the vet in town. They were all successfully released except 1 which had a wing injury which never healed well enough to fly properly.  We currently have a large tawny in care weighing 450grams on intake. Involved in a collision  and has injured the top of his wings on both sides. No broken bones and I’m sure he will be O.K. in a couple of weeks. He has had a course of antibiotics to make sure that no infection set in and is eating well. He has been favouring 1 wing but today he opened it himself for the first time since being in care.

Tawnies in care Dec 2016

Pretty Britty left home the first week in May this year. She was here for 3 years 5 months. I was very attached to her and she would keep me company at breakfast looking for her yoghurt and rolled oats .The back veranda  for a late afternoon cup of tea for me and a couple of almonds for her!  A handsome buck started hanging around 6 months ago and he returned intermittently waiting for her to come on heat. The last couple of weeks he wouldn’t let her out of his sight and he even took a kip on the back veranda on several occasions. We would hear them doing the courtship dance some nights. Clomping past our bedroom  at all hours. We had to be careful not to get between them as he may have launched an attack if threatened. Eventually she went off with him. I hope will return one day and show us her a baby.

Britty being courted

afternoon siesta – keeping a firm eye on Britty!

You definitely wouldn’t want to get in the way!

Britty & Bozo were good friends . Here they are grazing together Jan this year. As you can Bozo looks healthy and well.

Bozo and Britty grazing together Jan 2017

A couple of weeks ago Bozo started coming to the front yard alone in the afternoons and he didn’t look to be in good condition any longer. He looked boney  and his fur looked lank and patchy. We soon noticed that his jaw looked very swollen and he was unable to eat properly which had resulted in his bad condition. Over the next few  days he became very ill and we thought he was going to die soon. We can’t be 100% certain but we think he had “lumpy jaw” . Some  symptoms of this are swellings on the jaw and face, difficulty eating and slobbering, weight loss and tiredness. As the animals eat, bacteria accumulates around the teeth.  These bacteria can infect the gums through cuts in the mouth.  Following this the infection can spread into the soft tissue like muscle, tendons and tissues that surrounds bone. The next step
from here is infection of the bone. Some say that lumpy jaw can be caused by the wrong diet in captivity such as feeding pellets and grain all the time. When macropods feed in the wild on grasses, leaves, herbage and branches they chew horizontally .When processed foods are fed the chewing action changes to vertical which tends to compact food into the gums. Bozo was reared on a natural diet  of grazing grasses or cut grass . He has been living free since Nov 2013 and only eats some grain and wheaten chaff occasionally when he comes around the house if we are support feeding due to lack of grasses. He was blinded in 1 eye about a year ago , probably due to trying to depend himself against a stronger bigger buck but he was doing O.K.  He was never an aggressive kangaroo, always friends with everyone.  We had  a female grey came to house front a couple of years ago , she was wild but bought her young baby here. She presented with the same symptoms and she died .The  baby stayed around but we couldn’t get him to come close and take milk but he survived and he’s still around .We called him  Be Bop and he and Bronte’s 2nd baby Bebe are great mates , teenage louts.  In a zoo situation lumpy jaw can be treated if caught in time but we couldn’t do anything here. We would like to try and source a tranquilizer gun. We decided that we couldn’t let Bozo die a painful death so Larry euthanized him. Bozo was 51/2 years old.

baby Bozo

Big Bozo with Billy

Bronte our resident female grey still has her last baby “Bae”  with her. She has had 3 babies now and also has another in pouch. Moses the red-neck is still around and Billy who came into care after Bozo visits occasionally .He is an enormous male and we think he is  Bae’s dad.

Billy

Billy & Bae

4Bs gang – Bozo, Bronte, Billy &Bae

Bozo hopping off

A picture of Bozo I snapped as he was going .

Bozo and Bronte with Bae in pouch June 2016

The Butcher Birds are still around plus few other   visitors pictured here.

echidna visit

mystery insect – can anyone identify this? about 10cm long

smooth knob-tailed gecko

Plover baby

I spotted this strange macropod in the front yard

The weather has got a lot colder in the mornings and evenings so the wombats are out and about early eve. We have been getting about 5 that we recognise coming to front yard in the evening eating the fresh grass and yummy grass roots. We found one curled up in the woodpile about 4 weeks ago. He has a tiny spot of mange on his back. We offered him some grain but he was most unimpressed .We followed him to his burrow and have been giving him weekly treatments . Larry is treating about 7 wombats at the moment , some on neighbouring properties.

wombat in the woodpile

not impressed with grain!

Below is an image I really like of mum & baby who visit us often.

I love my mummy

Currently in care I have a little female grey. She came in from a member of the public in town. Her mother was killed by a car. She had been keep for 4 days and given cows milk  before being handed over. I don’t know what else had happened to her but she was very sick. She had thrush and couldn’t suck.. I have had her for 3 weeks  and it has taken that long to stabilize her . She is now thriving . Her name is “Worm” .

The little “Worm”

and here is ” Fidel the Splendid Wombat” taken last month.

Fidel May 2017

I know this update is bitsy but leaving things for a over a year makes it hard to pick up the thread. I hope you enjoyed some of it!

Watching the Flying Foxes.
The camp is about 250 metres on the river bank before our place and stretches along through the trees about 250 metres in length.

A couple of months ago we heard the distinctive sound of Flying Foxes . We have never seen Flying Foxes here although we are told they have been here before.  Bats are the only mammals capable of  sustained flight. Conservation of our Flying Foxes is really important because of their role in the pollination and seed dispersal of Australian forest trees. Grey Headed Flying Foxes are listed as vulnerable , due to the logging of their habitat. They are found in coastal south-eastern Australia from Victoria to Miriam Vale in Queensland ,and inland to the western slopes. Adults weigh from 600-1000g with a forearm of 140-175 mm. In captivity they can live for 30 years. To my knowledge there is no accurate data for lifespan in the wild although scientists have used growth rings in the teeth which show some animals have existed for over 20 years.

Last night about 7.45pm I was having a cold shower outside. The moon was not quite full but full enough to illuminate the night . Directly above me almost close enough to touch thousands of Flying Foxes were heading out from camp to feed . It took about 20 minutes for them all to pass by. It really was a wonderful sight and I thought how lucky I was to see that at home.

up close and personal

A very different experience from seeing them fly out over the city areas . I thought about Stellaluna , my little orphan I raised and wondered if she might be among them! She did come here for a weekend .Her and I travelled from Sydney by train .She was snuggled up in the pocket in front of my T.shirt, custom made for her. She was first taken to the crèche at Gordon for a few weeks before release as there is a large colony live there. On release she went to Gordon Railway Station and landed on a man’s shoulder .Fortunately this fellow liked the FFs and knew them and about the crèche so he took her there. All the ones at the crèche were tagged ( also had an item of mum’s clothing to hang beside) so Judy who runs the crèche knew who it was. She was kept there for a few more weeks before releasing again. I reckon she was trying to get back to mum and remembered (who says they have no memory) that the train might take her there.

Stellaluna
grape munching

Stellaluna almost flying

To a tired bat In the city overhead power lines look like a nice branch to rest on. Usually they will be electrocuted when they reach for the next “branch”. During October to December  often the female bats that stop to rest on the power lines,  are carrying their baby (extra weight) and tired from having to look after two.If you see a bat hanging on a powerline by itself during the day, it is either seriously injured or dead. In either case, please always be on the lookout for a baby as they often survive the electrocution and can live for up to four days clinging to their mother. If there are any signs of life for the adult and/or baby, please call a wildlife rescue line immediately,  and note the street address and if possible the power pole numbers.

Energy companies  assist bat carers to retrieve bats from power lines although they can take some time and some orphans may die during the wait. When we lived in Sydney Larry devised a pole arrangement for retrieving bats of power lines. It’s illegal so I certainly don’t advise anyone to do such a dangerous thing. However, he was successful in saving some without electrocuting himself. I had a little orphan named “Electra”  of course! Power lines and aerial wires kill thousands of flying fox yearly. Crocodiles, snakes, white bellied sea eagles, power owls and goannas are known predators of flying foxes.

Goanna with flying fox

Crows,Dingoes, domestic dogs and foxes are also seen around camps, probably scavenging for dead individuals. We have discovered that Goanna’s also prey on Flying Foxes.

Since I last posted an update Larry has spotted a Squirrel Glider so we know they are around here also .Unfortunately he didn’t have his camera. He also saw an Eastern yellow Robin, although said to be common we haven’t seen any here before. We were excited that we had flocks of musk lorikeets visiting for a couple of months. We have never seen any type of lorikeet here before.

Musk lorikeets visiting

Bearded Dragon

 I spotted this Bearded Dragon sun baking while doing some raking . He went off into his log when he realised I was around .

Bearded Dragon home

The Koels have done their yearly pass through. We haven’t heard one for a week so we think they have moved on. Although we are delighted when they arrive those of you who hear the constant Koel cry will understand when we say ,thank goodness! They had  fierce competition this year from the resident Friar birds for the Mulberries.

visiting Koel

We have 2 trees which came out in lots of berries this year but we didn’t get to eat any!  Koels love them along with loquats which we didn’t know we had as we thought the tree was an avocado. We did get some of them though  which I made into very tasty jam. The friar birds had their yearly feast on the silky oak flowers and were drunk for weeks!

Silky Oak in flower

Bronte still comes and spends time here in the house paddock and is now having her third baby, she’s a wonderful mother .Bebe is nearly as large her and still drinking milk. All those manuals that say wean greys at 12mths have got it wrong! We have had proof more than once now. We had a mother grey with a very young a baby that started coming here and she had a nasty mouth wound .We couldn’t get anywhere near her and felt sure she was going to die. Larry found her dead down on the river bank a couple of weeks later. The young one would come here sometimes with Bronte and Bebe , sometimes with Bozo who is sometimes  here with Bronte .We think the pouch young she is carrying now is probably his. We called the other youngster Bebop and tried to get near thinking we might be able to bottle feed but to no avail. Surprisingly a couple of months later this little one was still around and managed to survive without milk. I think having a safe place to come to would have also helped. I guess this means that you can wean earlier but if it’s possible not to. If you look closely at the image of Bebop you can see that the fur doesn’t look as healthy as Bebe or Britty I will stick with what I have always done with the greys and  give milk till at least 16 – 18 months regardless of what a lot of the manuals say!

Orphan Bebop

We haven’t seen Bebop for a while now but it is possible especially if a little girl she may have managed to join a group, we hope so.

Britty is about 2 years old now, still at home ……..   completely free as she has been most of her life. Wallaroos are independent at about 16mths old but Britty seems to like it round here. Maybe she will always stay round and bring her babies like Bronte does. We have noticed a very handsome buck hanging around and heard footsteps in the night on the back veranda that sounded to loud for Britty. Larry got up and had a look and it was the buck !

Britty relaxed ,resting

Pretty Britty

Raising Britty has been very different from the greys .Wallaroos are macropods with attitude! Britty hisses and swipes the broom which she dislikes and bites me occasionally if she feels like it!

Bebe drinking.

The cockatiels are still very happy and are now 12.Since I took these pics 3 more have been born .We were very surprised to see Lemmon. A cockatiel this colour would not survive long in the wild. We are now taking the eggs away as breeding cockatiels in captivity is not what we want to do.

Young Chu
baby of Chu & Mani

You may remember me talking about the horses that live about 6 ks before our place. When we moved here there were two.”Bailey” mare and “Rebel” stallion. Along came “Twinkle” who we watched being born. I was privileged and I was asked to name her. Now  there are two more , Teensy and Tiny!

Lemmon – baby of Lady and Fu

Little lady
baby of Lady and Fu

mum Bailey and Tiny

They all get very excited when we pull up at there paddock , running over and neighing !We received a phone call from the owners asking us if we would like Twinkie .naturally we declined , who would split up a herd of almost wild horses that have such a great life! When I say “their paddock” it’s an enormous piece of  land and no one bothers them . They have a dam  for water and when grass is scarce the owners always bring hay for them .We really enjoy stopping for a visit when we go through their turf.

We have had yet another gala that came into care via Merriwa town. Picked up in a backyard unable to fly and was getting a hard time from the others. We kept her and rested her for a couple of weeks then into a bigger space then a successful release.

Galah released – happy to be up and away!

The king parrots are around and I will have a race to beat them to the ripe pomegranets which they love eating. This season I have found some recipes to try, green beans with pomegranet  , beetroot,  fig & pomegranet salad with goats cheese , yum, yum.

Mr & Mrs King Parrot

We had a young adult Tawny Frogmouth come into to care a couple of weeks ago. Sadly it had  got caught on a barbed wire fence in town. The chap that found it managed to get it off the barbed wire but it had sustained some wounds to the left wing. We applied antibiotic cream and also used a 7 day course of oral antibiotics, strapped the wing for support and left it strapped for a week .he was lovely bird , as they all are. He ate well and the open wound healed but the wing obviously ,unfortunately had dislocated at the shoulder when we checked after the week. We had to have him euthanased which is always sad but with a dislocation there is no choice.

You can see the dropped left wing.

What would an update  be without a report on Splendid Fidel. He has been free now for 13mths and I can finally say that I am satisfied that I did a good job and he is a   free living wild wombat. He turns up at the house paddock some nights as that is part of his territory. I can still touch him but he is quite stand offish and  does his own thing .It’s very easy to lose your heart to a wombat.

Fidel today -the splendid wombat!

tiny Fidel

Finally an update ! Almost November and Fidel will have been with us for a year. It’s certainly a commitment taking on a lone wombat from a pinky of 280grams.

Sadly, late in August, my dear brother-in-law David passed away from an unexpected illness that moved very quickly. He was writer and was always reading lots of different material . He and my sister had visited Wombat Creek the previous year and he loved it here. He loved the NZ bush and spent a lot of time in it and was very knowledgeable about it. He found the Australian bush, flora and fauna , very interesting and I’m sorry he didn’t get to spend long here but so pleased he did come . I sent him James Woodford’s book “Secret Life of Wombats” as I knew he would find it very interesting and he did .He thought wombats were splendid creatures .Fidel’s release will be my tribute to David as he always encouraged me in my endeavour to try and contribute something to our great wilderness.

Andriani and David visit Wombat Creek

Fidel was 11.6 kilo on the 29th Sept so he is probably over 13kilo now. He has been grazing outside his pen for quite some time now while I sit and read   and occassionaly he would take off and go round to where there are about 4 wombat burrows, not far away from his pen. He began going down the burrows and I have sat round there while 2 big wombats graze around there also. They kept a respectable distance from each other .Wombats do overlap territory and will tolerate a shared burrow occasionally  but don’t  stay down there together unless mum and baby. Fidel began to evade coming back to the pen with me and would run down a burrow so I couldn’t pick him up . I would leave the pen door open and he would be back there in the morning .He has done this about 3 times in the past month. Last week he didn’t appear the next morning or the morning after. The 3rd morning I found him grazing outside his pen and when he saw me he ran over squealing like a little piglet. I have been keeping him in the pen as he has a patch of fur missing fur on his rump. Fortunately no skin breaks .I think I can see 2 marks a bit above the patch which could be claw or teeth so I do think he went down a burrow and woke someone up. Perhaps a good learning curb for him . I don’t know how long the fur takes to grow back but I am trying to find out .The skin on the rump is very tough and about 1 centimetre thick. If a wombat is in the burrow with the rump exposed toward the entrance it can give a powerful thrust upward or sideways crushing  anything that touches the rump , a predators head or a human hand! Wombats  are ancient animals and although they are compared to badgers, bears and beavers there is no relationship. The common wombat is the only living member of it’s genus, Vombatus.

Fidel’s attack patch. The fur will grow back a slightly different colour so we will able to recognise him!

While I am in the pen I like to be comfortable as well so I have my own burrow. Once Fidel has had his milk (he needs to be weaned now) and a good grass feed he thinks it’s time to have a good snore. I am usually lying on my burrow reading  and he lies along side. He is so relaxed I was able to get this pic of him with his head buried. It’s interesting that when he is outside the pen the smallest noise will send him running in straight down his burrow so that’s really good.

Fidel full of milk and grass in a deep sleep snoring with head burrowed

Fidel’s size now .The book is 9″ long.

Bronte has been a good first time mum.  Bobo is a little girl , not allowed in the pouch any more .I read that kangaroos can select the sex of the baby if they find that there are two many males in their group. Bronte had all males in her group so  I decided that if this baby was not a girl I would know that the writer was incorrect but I wasn’t let down. Bucky has left and gone with the 2 year old louts group and Billy is coming and going. Bronte and Bobo are often with another young mum who has pouch young and Billy is still hanging around with them sometimes. We had some heavy rain a couple of weeks ago and we were quite surprised to see Billy decided to have a rest on his bed on the front veranda which he hasn’t done for ages and since . We think Bronte must be ready to mate again as some large bucks have been following her around .

Bronte eating Bobo drinking Billy keeping watch.

here’s BOBO!

For those of you who remember Moses ,he is still around.. He is BIG. If he’s in the house paddock  and sees me coming he will stay there and let me give him a kiss on the nose then runs off as if he’s terrified! I thought I had a recent pic but I haven’t so here is one of the ever faithful Fatty who must be about 12yrs old by now and still going strong.

Fatty – must be about 12 years old now!

We have treating the resident wombats in the valley for mange if they have it and we see them or someone tells us .We have had some success which is great. One very bad case we tried but unfortunately we think he died .We never found the body but he disappeared and no usage of the  burrow  we knew he had been digging.

This is the poor wombat that was so bad we didn’t hold much hope for him. He was on a property about 3k from ours and the owner heard we were treating them and came and asked us to try.

a case of very bad mange

Larry spraying oil onto the poor wombat which does give them some relief .has to be done sparingly as when the animal is run down as this the oil can make it freezing as body temp can’t be maintained properly.

In the centre is 8mls of ivomec contained in a milk top lid .When the wombat comes in or out the ivomec spills on the neck .We have a night vision camera which we set in place to take snapshots when we need to see what’s happening. The treatment is once a week for 8 weeks .

burrow flap for ivomec

This wombat has been treated.

There is controversy over whether this treatment works or not. The old school of thought says no and wombats with mange should all be shot. We thought it was certainly worth trying as others with properties do it and say it does work. Now we know that it does if the mange is not to progressed. I believe that people with properties that have wombats have an obligation to treat the wombats. If people let a domestic pet die of mange they would be prosecuted if it was reported .Wombats are a native species and therefore supposedly protected……….. I  think the name Common Wombat gives a false impression .

and this one was eventually another successful treatment

The cockatiels continue to live a happy life here and another baby was born not long ago .She was very beautiful , pale lemon like her mother and we called her Arnu .Unfortunately I found her in the aviary with blood on her chest .A piece of wire had worked itself up from under the dirt floor and she had got caught on while learning to fly. She never made it as it had pierced her internally. It was very sad . However Chuchu and Lady  continue to lay eggs and I’m sure another will hatch.

Spring is a lovely time of year here ,warm days but still comfortable at night. The swallows and willie wagtails have all got eggs in their  nests. The  rosellas have made a nest in a  hollow near the house and the plovers have laid eggs not to far away. The Black-faced Cuckoo -shrikes have arrived on their journey North.  The reptiles are out and we are racing the Goannas to the eggs once again . I saw my first snake of the summer a few evenings ago .He was very dark and thin and I wasn’t sure what type, he was hanging round the wombat holes in the long grass .  I did watch him for a bit .I think he was hunting .He Stayed  completely still till I moved off then slithered away down into some very long grass .Wombats will stay away from a burrow if a snake is detected and even after the snake has vacated they will not use the burrow for a bit. Talking of wombats I must away and visit one !

not a bird but you get the idea!

 Finally I have some time to update ………and it’s already 2 weeks into April. Well it was when I started this but it will be May before I finish!

Mum “Lady” and baby “Rocket Bird”

The new cockatiel who we call “Rocket Bird” is thriving and almost as big as his parents .Larry named him but I have no idea what inspired the name. Larry’s sister, Vicki, says we have the silliest  names for the animals she has ever heard of. I do like “Rocket Bird” as it conjures up a comical image in my minds eye.

Last night we went to our first meeting of the Goulburn River Wild Dog Association as feel we should do our bit of adding to the efforts of controlling wild dogs. Aerial shooting and ground baiting procedures are both carried out. We are told that Dingoes don’t take baits as they only eat their own kill. I can’t find any evidence which shows this to be fact. If anyone knows I would like to hear from you. Larry and I both consider the dingo to be our native dog although there is a lot of argument in this area. We believe they play a role in the control of various species in the wild and we don’t like the idea of baiting them but wild dog control certainly has to carried out. We don’t like baiting anything but some things seem necessary .Maybe we could use the method pictured above on the irresponsible humans who have created the problem by letting domestic dogs go in the bush .

We lost about 90 of the 190 native trees & shrubs we planted.  We have had a lot of rain here in the past month and watering in the morning has been reduced to a very simple task , nature taking over but probably not for long. It seems that the plants far prefer the rain water to being watered with a hose and river water as they seem to be doing well. Growth is very slow but we hear the Casuarina Cockatoos almost daily flying overhead and hope that in a few years we will have made a difference to their food supply and that their numbers will grow. It would be great to have them off the endangered list. July we will receive some more funds from Conservation Partnerships to plant more trees. We are building a green house as putting the trees in there will give them a better start.

green house frame

dodonaea cuneata
aprox 6mths old

allocasuarina diminuta
aprox 6mths old

Larry doesn’t like wasting anything so he built a 2nd green house – a bit smaller

dianella caerulea

gum planted about 6 years ago

melaleuca we planted about 6 years ago

my sister Helen with Galy Dec visit

We get quite a few large flocks of Galahs  visiting the paddock next to the house and hope Galy might be among them living free and wild. I guess that the hardest thing when rehabbing and releasing wildlife is that without funds to tag, chip or whatever is required you never really know how successful you have been.

Moses the red-neck is still coming for milk, mainly in the evening .I have cut his amount down as he would be about  5 kilo and about 12 months old , This is when the care manuals say to wean and  release. Moses has been living free since he was approx 3 kilo and loving it!!

Moses (front left) and friends

Billy is growing in leaps and bounds !! He is now  12.5 kilo and I have also cut his milk down morn and eve .Eastern Grey kangaroos will often drink milk from mum till they are  18 months old if allowed. Billy is about 15-16 months old .He has started staying away from home some nights and days as he goes off with Bucky and Bronte. He sometimes returns with them or on his own if he feels the need for some protection and rest. Not being with mum he has to be constantly on the alert. Joeys are very vulnerable at this age when they are just starting to exert their independence. Billy is doing very well and so lucky to have Bronte and Bucky. They have completely accepted him and as Bucky sometimes go off  and we don’t see him for 3 or 4 days ,now being a rough male juvenile. Bronte seems pleased to have Billy with her. We are looking fwd to her baby emerging and think she will start her very own mob.

Billy had 2 large kangaroo pox on his left back foot. All the manuals say they will eventually fall off. It is said treatment is usually not necessary as lesions resolve over several months however I felt that poor Billy was carrying round extra weight with these 2 great wart like growths and they seemed to be showing no signs off falling off only growing larger! Although widely spread throughout Australia only few reports of the disease have appeared in  literature. The Australian Wildlife Health Network does have a fact sheet on pox virus .Cases have been reported in a Tasmanian pademelon, ringtail possum, southern bent-wing bat ,bottlenose dolphin  and  crocodiles. The disease is actually worldwide but poses no threat to humans . Billy had adapted to bounding O.K. with these on his foot as he seemed to move just fine. At the suggestion of Lynda Staker I treated them over a period of about 9 days with common old apple cider vinegar and it did the job. Fur doesn’t grow back where these lesions have been but nice new tissue does once the pox tissue has gone.I kept a record and pics so Lynda could write-up the case along with others that were giving the treatment a trial as well. She will include it in her new manual. For anyone interested in looking after macropods Lynda Staker’s manual “Don’t Step backwards” in my opinion is the most comprehensive guide to care of the kangaroo species I have come across. She is always willing to help when I email for any advice. I have a great deal of respect for her dedication and the volume of well researched work she has produced.  http://lyndastaker.com/

Billy’s vinegar bandage

pox virus on Billy’s foot

Billy’s cured foot !

Big thanks to Helen George for her Wombat rescue and rehabilitation manual  which is so precise and easy to follow .Helen is also a macropod carer and I believe it was Helen who first taught Lynda about macropods many years ago. The wombat manual was written back in 1995 and even though I have accessed and printed out far more recent manuals I haven’t found anything that compares as a guide to wombat care when taken as an overall view.Helen is a member of WIRES and has been for many years. Always willing to take a phone call and answer any questions to help a novice like me . A dedicated carer, for I think about 35 years, only just slowing down !! It’s certainly a privilege to be able to learn by listening to dedicated people and reading what they have written.

 Between Helen’s manual, Barbara Triggs “The Wombat” UNSW Press Australian Natural History Series and James Woodford “The Secret Life of Wombats”  featuring the fantastic research done by Peter Nicholson when he was just a boy and attending school at Timbertop I have had a wealth of information to use caring for my first wombat , the tearaway,  “Fidel”.

BIG Billy says
“Thank you Lynda”

Fidel  when last weighed nearly 2 weeks ago  was 4500 grams so he would be close to 5 kilo now! He is a lot of work! I am indebted to my sister Helen who came and helped me when he first came into care. First it was keeping him warm at the correct temperature then it was packing ice packs around him all day and night  to keep the temperature down when it was so hot and he was so small. I do wish she’d come back till he’s ensconced in his large pen ,fully emerged and in his burrow !!Fidel likes to start grazing at about 5 pm up in the hills and would have me stay there all night if he could. It would be great to have two people  taking turns to sit on the cold ground as he likes to have a bit of time out from grazing to play “jump over and bite mum” I’m sure Helen would love it! Now I understand why carers keep 2 wombats together. It’s not because they get lonely (they are solitary animals but with their mum till time to go it alone and she leaves them in the burrow for long periods while she is grazing) it’s because it makes life easier for the carer!!! They are rogues, especially males , and want to play by way of leaping , biting  and rolling downhill like an out of control ball. Wombat mums are very tough and keep them in line.Care has to be taken to ensure that wombats don’t get used to people if they to be released successfully to be truly wild and free. Fidel doesn’t live in the house and doesn’t have contact with anyone else apart from minimal contact with Larry when it’s necessary.Fidel loves to start grazing at about 5 pm  and would have me stay out all night if he could. I give up 2 hours then he has his evening milk and goes into a small pen we have  till the early morning  .He has dug a burrow but still isn’t fully emerged so he doesn’t stay in it all night as he still has his bag. He would be more than happy to stay in it if I could go in there as well………he’s got no chance.  I might sleep outside with the young roos but being in a bed  with the stars overhead has its compensations !! He has his morning milk about 6.30 am. I always supply pulled out grass for the night but he’s not as keen on that now that he knows what grazing is all about. His new pen has lots of grass growing in it .Grass that is less than 10 cm in length has the best nutrition and it seems that he instinctively knows that.His new pen which is up on the hill-side and is 10 x 7 metres is now finished thanks to Larry’s great building ability and Bunny’s generosity paying for the materials. It won’t be just Prince George who has an enclosure named after him!!

The Tearaway

weighing Fidel

Fidel when he was 3200grams

and here’s Bunny!
Fidel says
“Thanks Bunny”

We had a visit from a swamp harrier who was eyeing up the cockatiels but realized there was no way to make a meal so he departed. Larry took this shot of him while he was contemplating how to get a meal.

Swampharrier looking at the cockatiels in the flight aviary!

We have also had visits from some flocks of Short-billed Corellas.

short-billed corellas visit

The little possum “Sandi” that we took from Dubbo zoo was successfully released and she is around .She eats a lot of gum and is wilder then Squirtymatey the male possum that came from Dubbo. He is living in a hollow pipe above my office. He has become very friendly and he is often in the front yard at night. I can get quite close to him .I tried to take a picture but it’s not very clear. You can see he has a tree trunk table that he gets on to then goes up into the wattle tree if I get to close.  I leave him some fruit out on his tree trunk table once a week.

Squirtymatey on his table

 In the past couple of months I have seen Bozo a couple of times and I was able to get close enough take a pic of him. I have also seen him come to the paddock next to the house with Bucky ,Bronte , Billy and another grey who is a bit bigger than Billy. Maybe a doe , I have called him/her Bobby. When I go out Bozo and Bobby hop away immediately. I have formed the opinion that if you bring up a kangaroo eating natural food, in the wild and take it out into those surrounding for  grazing where he sees the mobs daily even though dependent on you for some time once a certain level of maturity is reached that animal will live as a wild one and will not come back to you ,what reason does it have?Bozo was only given grass and his milk formula  while growing up.He never had grain till Bronte and Bucky came and he could take it or leave it ,more often leave it. If you bring up kangaroos in a backyard situation, even if they do have a bit of land to graze at night , and return to the backyard by day, feed them substitute food such as grain while they are growing up then they will return for the grain as that is what they know. Bucky and Bronte were bought up like that till they were about 12 kilo then we bought them here and continued to give them some grain as that is what they knew. I believe they come back to the house for the food not  any attachment to us. Billy has joined with them so he does that as well and  he is also still on milk so still dependent,the same as Moses who comes for his milk. Once Moses  has finished with milk we will probably still see him but not every night .Bucky and Bronte don’t come everyday as there is lots of grass about now and I believe that if we stopped putting grain out for them they would probably stop coming right up to the house after a time. However, we are finding that we are able to study different behaviour by having them around and want to follow Bronte and baby and see if she does make her own group. As we have no intention of moving any time soon we will continue to do what we have been doing and see what happens.

Bucky & Billy in a sparing lock

Bucky &Billy sparing

Mum Bronte – baby getting bigger!!

January 2014 spotted Bozo!! Bozo had a very distinctive face and was a silver with black markings.

Weeks have passed since I started writing this post.It’s now May 11th!! Fidel’s new  pen is finished, just a few wombat decorating touches to add. He was 5225 grams when I weighed him about 4 days ago. I have been taking him into his new pen for a hour in the evenings  and he likes it there. Another week and he will be ready to stay there day and night. Feeding him his milk and a grazing walk in the evenings will be so much easier. Hoping he will dig a good burrow in there for himself and  start using it all day.

Larry with the trench digger. Trenches 92cms deep.Thank goodness for the trench digger!!

Work in progress

” Adventure in the Wombat Pen ” update coming soon !!

Fidel grazing

Fidel inspecting his new pen.

photo by Birds Australia
baby with currawong foster parent

channel-billed cuckoo perched
photo by Birds Australia

channel-billed cuckoo in flight

The traveler

Larry feeding Rocket

It’s a hard life out here in the bush!

cracking seed

checking the camara

a glamour pose by Bronte

Annaliese and Billy

Moses drinking and growing!

Helen relaxing at dusk

Helen feeding little Fidel

Helen reading about wombats!

Helen and me having breakfast wit Bucky, Bronte and Galy

Billy listening

Bunny and Billy

and later in the day after food and drink!

2013 finished and already the end of January 2014! We got a lot done on the property in 2013 but it seems very little in the larger plan. My friend Joan and her husband Ian finally managed to come for a short visit in Oct 2013. Joan was a wires member when Larry and I  joined  and guided us well in the care of birds and reptiles. We have remained friends and I value being able to call on her experience regarding wildlife. She is now involved with Birds Australia. She did a bird count on our property while she was here.  She spotted a  channel  billed cuckoo which the experienced ear heard first. We didn’t realise they pass through on their migration but we saw another two that week after we had  been made aware!

 The Channel-billed Cuckoo  lays its eggs in the nest of another bird. It’s a large cuckoo, so it must lay its eggs in the nest of another large bird. Foster parents are usually  currawongs,  magpies, crows and ravens. Eggs are occasionally laid in the mud-nests of white-winged choughs or magpie-larks, and very occasionally in the nests of birds of prey! The Channel-billed Cuckoo migrates to northern and eastern Australia from New Guinea and Indonesia between August and October each year. The birds leave Australia in February or March.

We hope everyone had some enjoyable time out from the usual hum drum over the Xmas and New Year break. We really enjoyed having my sister and niece(her daughter) stay with us for  a few days. My sister Helen spends her time between NZ and USA  and my niece Annaliese lives in New York but loves to travel.

Both are animal lovers so having them here was definite bonus as there we little creatures needing TLC.

Larry was trying very hard to keep one of the cockatiel babies alive and also engrossed in the cricket so was pleased to have them all around to help. Lady, the cockatiel our friends bought us from Swansea hatched 2 eggs in her log.I found one of the babies on the ground having been pushed out of the nest .The difference in development between the two siblings was remarkable. How the little one was still alive is surprising as he couldn’t have been getting much food. Larry tried very hard  but it got to much for the little one after a week.

Billy,the eastern grey kangaroo is now 7700grms. He was still getting in and out of his bag (mum’s pouch)  while Annaliese was here and she spent lots of time cuddling him. He has since discarded his pouch but still likes his dummy! He spends quite a bit of time with Bronte & Bucky so no doubt he really thinks he’s BIG!The other morning while I was watering some of the 130 trees we have planted I spotted some cows that had obviously escaped the restraints of their fencing and made it down to our place.  I gave chase and sent them off back down to cow land. Billy was grazing with Bucky and Bronte in the middle of the paddock and they must have taken fright seeing me like a mad woman running and herding the enormous beasts. I didn’t see them but they took off and Billy went as well. They must have gone off to somewhere cool as it was like a furnace  here for a few days.It must have been quite an ordeal fro him.he returned that afternoon with Bucky and Bronte behind him.He was quite happy to stay close to me for the next 24hrs and even though he grazes with them in the big paddock till late at night he doesn’t go off with them. When they go he comes home.He is now drinking up to 100mls of milk formula morning and evening, he will  soon really be a big boy!

Galy has had the Galahs coming every day for weeks and he finally went off with them about a week ago. He finally worked out he was a Galah not a SCC.It was a very good result .He was used to humans as we had to handle him a lot but hopefully he will wild up quickly and not go landing on anyone’s head.

Moses the red-neck still comes every day. He loves his evening milk and will often drink up to 75mls .He often comes for morning milk as well.He is growing beautifully and seems very relaxed with all his new-found friends.

Fidel is now 1190 grams and is drinking stronger milk formula .It was a relief to have my sister helping with his feeding As he was only 290 grams when he first came into care he had required 6 feeds per 24hrs  and I found myself to be suffering from lack of sleep and was still tired when Helen arrived. Now he’s a bit bigger Larry has  built him a lovely burrow (box) which is dark and keeps nice and cool . He is on 4 feeds per 24hrs but I will be able to get him onto 3 feeds per  24 hrs in the next few days. I will also start putting a bit of grass in his pouch. He will be about 3 kilo when he can go outside from dusk till late for grazing in a temporary  enclosure for safety. At 5 kilo he will be fully emerged from the pouch and want to start digging as the urge is very strong for a wombat.

At 8 kilo he will be in a wombat pen which Larry will start building soon. At 10 kilo he will be weaned and by  15 kilo will be a wild free  wombat!

Bronte’s tummy is looking bigger now and I saw her a baby the other day while she was cleaning her pouch. I saw a pink rear end and a curled tail so the baby is bigger than a jelly bean now!

My early morning duties apart from feeding hungry mouths is the watering of the 130 trees we planted. Billy usually comes and keeps me company and  sometimes Bucky and Bronte as well. Over half of trees seem to be surviving so that’s not to bad.

I am still waiting for a visit from Bozo………  and he has been !  He only came as far as the edge of the house paddock and it’s when Bucky and Bronte were out in the large paddock with the small group Bozo has joined. He must have hopped back here with them but I could see his group in the paddock. He only stayed for a couple of minutes and wasn’t interested in coming near me which is terrific.He is definitely living wild and looks fabulous. A fantastic result given that he was my first macropod and he was alone for so long in the sense that he just had me while he was young. He did  have greys all around him  and I always took him for long walks even though I couldn’t get really close to them  I knew he was aware of the roos around him. I will try to get a pic of him if he comes again but need to have the camera close by.

My friend Bunny stayed for 3 days over Xmas and she’s always willing to baby sit any animal.

Yesterday I picked up a brushtail possum in town which had been delivered by the Western plains zoo .She was found at Sandy Hollow as a young one by  a MOP and taken to the zoo. They have raised her but wanted her released closer to where she came from  so I agreed to take her. She is just over 1kilo so will need to be in the poss aviary till she bulks up a bit ,about 1350 grams . “Squirty Matey ” is a male possum that was bought here by a male wires member from Dubbo who also named him!  He was kept in the aviary till he got used to the food round here then released .He has been living in a large gum in the house paddock for about 1 year now so we are hoping there will be a happy union.

The possum I collected weighs 1100 grams (much bigger than Fidel to look at) she is juvenile/adult and will be ready for release when she is about 1350 grams .Fidel is a tiny baby who in the most recent photo weighs 1225 grams.An interesting comparison. It’s easy to see why wombats are so strong,

me and Billy

Trying to save Rocket

sleeping beauty

Beautiful velvet furred Fidel – aprox 900grams

Billy inspecting the peaches off the peach tree

Fidel’s “burrow”

Macropods like fruit! Fatty eating fallen peaches , yum,yum. Bozzo used to love apple & melon.

Moses relaxing

the other sibling (and mum) the same age as poor Rocket

Annaliese & Billy

A ball of muscle

latest photo- Fidel awake and hungry -weight 1245 grams

Fidel’s digging claws when he was less than 500 grams!!

Xmas dinner

Broncos supporter

Bozo has been gone now for just over a month. There is no way of knowing if he is O.K other than the sighting a couple of weeks ago by Larry and Scott.  It isn’t unusual for a buck  to go away and then turn up months later so here’s hoping I get to see him enormous!! The great thing here is being able to soft release animals .Meaning like Bozo  going and coming for a few months before making the complete break. All we can do is get them through joeyhood and hope for the best for their survival once they leave home. Bozo was a Bronco’s supporter so as he doesn’t know about NP standards he may have headed off to Qld!

This morning Bronte was cleaning her pouch and Larry was watching her. She was very relaxed and  revealed  her baby which is about  the  size of my little finger ,bigger than we thought .It will be interesting watching that development. She has moved down the yard into spot under a wattle tree at the front of the house where she spends most of her day so it will be very easy to observe.

Billy is developing at the normal rate for an eastern grey ……..slowly. He is getting more lively at night and wanting to spend more time grazing .When I took him on from “Wildlife Aid” he had one foot that turned under making him unsteady on his feet. I’m pleased to say that now he’s not locked up all the time and laying the correct way in his bag ,getting the exercise he needs,  the  problem how now corrected. Possibly the tendon which runs down the back of the leg into the foot may have been restricted . I don’t know how long he was with another carer when I got him and how he was kept. I do know that he dehydrated and stressed and the people who asked me to take him did not have the awareness to realize this was happening.

Billy at back, with Bucky & Bronte

Galy was released 1/12/20013 ,flying well , all O.K,. Staying around here, lots of galahs coming around. Galy joins them and SSC .Don’t think he’s sure if he’s a Galah or a SSC.

off you go!

This is much better than being in the aviary!

Breakfast with Billy & Galy

Moses comes every evening for his milk and is now drinking 65 mls time. I find it interesting that he is more friendly with me since he has been living free.

where did he go?

yum yum

Tree planting has been keeping Larry busy.He has 80 Casuarina trees and 50 native shrubs that he is planting at the moment . 30 trees have gone in along one of the fence lines and some of the shrubs in front of the house .They have to watered daily. We are hoping there they will attract little birds. We have lots of red-browed and double -barred finches around at the moment.

Those of you that read my posts will know that the trees are not only being planted for the good of the environment but to the memory of my nephew Paul who I  miss every day  and long to talk to .I don’t think there will another someone like Paul who could discuss things and  make me see things from a totally different point of view.His reality was one that I cherished being part of.

casuarina trees planted along fence line

native shrubs either side of bird bath

native shrubs planted along house back

red-browed finch

finches in rows

double-barred finch

The 2 baby cockatiels in the nest flight aviary are still there.We can put our hand in there and feel the spikes on them where the feathers are coming through so they should be out of the nest soon.

Last but not least is the baby wombat “Fidel”.He takes up more of my time than anyone else.A couple of weeks ago we were driving over to Woller nursery (on the Ringwood Road through the NP) to collect some of  casuarina tress to plant and we came across what had been a magnificent wombat, I’d say about 60 kilos and she had been in fantastic condition.  She had been hit in the head and had died sometime within the past 24 hrs. The baby in her pouch was still alive so I bought him home .

Fidel arrives 295grams

tiny Fidel

He has to fed every  with a 10 ml syringe.I’m pleased to say that he has settled down and is growing well.He will be furred at 1kilo and at the rate he’s growing that shouldn’t take to long. Fortunately my sister Helen and niece Annaliese, both animal lovers, are coming for Xmas.and I’m sure  they will happy to have a turn at feeding him,bliss ,I might be able to get a full nights sleep!He can’t even be left alone as temp is very important and as the day gets hot he has to be cooled down .I will be very pleased once he is a bit bigger and themo regulating  and gobbling down his milk from a bottle.My faithful friend Bunny who can always be relied on wombat sits when I go to town to do my shopping. He has to come into town and be left at her place while I am gone.

BIG Fidel now 420grams

contended baby – tired carer!

For Xmas

Please Santa send Bozo to visit me !