Windy Hill or Muddy Hill?

It is still raining here - not that we are complaining.
It is very muddy, very wet, very soggy - but we are NOT complaining.
Ok just a little bit!

We have had a couple of new arrivals this week.

Firstly we had this little fellow who was chased by cats and got himself caught up in between a door and a fly wire door. He was only with us for a few hours, had no injuries so we released him back into his area.
He is a Sugar Glider and they have a velvety soft coat and the most fascinating flaps that they glide with.
We had another Brushtail Possum come in. His Mum was hit by a car. He is the same size as April. We have housed them together and hope to release them as a pair - although April is being a little reluctant to accept him.
We have called him Leo.

Unfortunately we had to make the decision to have our littlest Wombat, Tessa euthanased - she just didn't have enough energy to put up the good fight.
It's not all nicey nice in the wildlife care world.
But I still wouldn't change a thing.

and Leroy??? He's doing well!
Cheers from here!

What a whirlwind!

We have had the busiest week ever.

We have had to take over the care of one of the triplet lambs. We think his Mum was a little confused (I don't blame her the poor thing - what a shock to the system) at having had three babies.She rejected the littlest one - thats him on the left. He is now called Leroy. He lives on our verandah. He comes inside for a bottle and then goes back outside.
I am overrun by mouths to feed!He follows Maddi around and Maddi is revelling in being his special Mum.

In the morning - I have been making up lamb bottles by six.
Wombat bottles by fifteen.
Possum feeds by two.
A nectar mix for a New Holland Honeyeater (he unfortunately has passed away now) and six feeds for a tiny little Wombat joey who came in on Saturday right before I went to work here for the day.

So I stashed the lamb in the office, the Wombat in my bra and off to work I went!

The next day I was helping out at our local camera clubs national exhibition. On the way to town to do this I pulled two large wombats off the road. The first was a male who was so big I could barely move him and the second was a girl who broke my heart - she had a little joey in her pouch that had died also. If the people that had hit her had stopped they could have saved the baby.

Sometimes this calling is hard.

The new little wombat who has since been named Tessa was very, very cold.
She weighs 432 gm and is doing really well.
I am off to Healesville Sanctuary with her and Charlie on Tuesday.
Tessa for a check up and Charlie hopefully for his last dental work! I haven't photographed Tessa yet - I like to let them settle in before pointing the big black thing in their face!

In amongst all the craziness I did stop long enough to notice out of our bedroom window a family of Kookaburras that came to rest on one of the wombat enclosure fences. If you look really hard you can see another one in the tree above the shed. These kookas have lived around our property for years and it is great to see their babies every season.
Cheers from here!

Mary had a little lamb, and another and another!!!

The other morning we got up to find this gorgeous little baby in our paddock. He is called Steve!

(yes it does rhyme with freeze)

We are on a farm here people and he has a purpose in life.

See that very big, round, rotund, circular like sheep on the right - well today she gave us THREE of these cute little babies.

All from that belly - what a very clever girl.

Cheers from here!

What would you say?

As a wildlife carer sometimes it is neccessary to take one or two little critters with you when you go out. Last night I had April the Possum with me and a lady commented on how gorgeous she was. Yes, I agreed with her. She is gorgeous and special.

Then she went on to tell me all about a possum coat she had purchased in New Zealand. It was so warm and soft and cuddly and I would really love it if I had one!

I think she was a little scared of the look on my face - because she then went on to tell me that Possums in New Zealand are pests - which is quite true. The Australian brush tailed possum was introduced into New Zealand in 1837 to establish a fur trade. They have no natural predators there and as such have become a pest.

I agreed with her about them being a pest and then also said that I just wouldn't and couldn't wear a coat that was made of possum fur. I wasn't nasty or righteous.

She didn't seem to understand why and we were left with one of those really uncomfortable moments where nobody knows what to say next.

What would you have said to this lady?


Cheers from here?

April The Brushtail Possum

April has been with us for a week now. She is adorable and quite a character!

Jed named her when he saw her rich gold colorings of apricot on her tummy.
Her favorite spot is sitting on our heads, so now we all wear hoodies!

For my overseas visitors - April is a Brushtail Possum.
She will eventually have a very bushy tail, and grow to about the size of a full grown cat.

A cat was responsible for killing Aprils mother.


April will be with us until approx May next year - when we shall soft release her onto our property.
Soft release is where we shall still provide smaller and smaller amounts of food for a few days or weeks to integrate them into the outside world, while they find their own food sources.

Hopefully she will catch up with Walnut - a male brushy that we released three weeks ago.
Walnut is busy being a big possum in his natural habitat.
Such a good feeling!

Cheers from here!

Tilli

When Tilli first arrived she was a very sad little wombat. We believe that she had been trying to survive without her Mum for what could have been a couple of weeks. Her claws were very worn down - probably from trying to get underground and she was quite dehydrated. She was very stressed.

When she first came in she wanted to be held all the time. Whenever we put her down she cried and cried for us to pick her up again. Very heartbreaking and we were glad to - for a while! But long term it was just not possible. I had a thought and didn't think it would work - but after another day of carrying her around I decided to try out this idea.

Success!!!

Tilli become a different Wombat after she began to suck on a dummy.
(a teat without a hole in it)

The transformation was incredible!
She became a placid, happy and comfortable wombie - just how we like 'em!

Here she is two months ago!

She has now moved into the pre-release enclosure with her burrow buddy Penny. I love this job - watching them move through the different stages!

Tilli was sponsored by some very kind people via the WRAP website.
If you get a chance to have a look at some of the animals that are up for sponsorship, then please do. Suggest to your schools or your workplace or your family that this is something they could do - it makes a world of difference and is very rewarding!

Cheers from here!

Bobbie

I am endeavouring to introduce you to all the magnificent creatures who pass through our home!
Bobbie was introduced to you twelve months ago!
Bobbie is a big boy now, who lives full time down a burrow.

All this rain is not good for young wombats who are learning how to dig burrows!
But I would not ever complain about the rain!!!
Although I do believe we may have had enough for a while!
I have certainly had enough of the mud!

Bobbie is very special to us - he is the littlest Wombat we have raised and when you feed and care for a tiny little furless creature - you lose your heart in a way that is hard to explain.


Bobbie has a burrow buddy called Charlie.
(that's him in the background)
He is a whole other story!

Cheers from here!!