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Latest Newsletter
July 2008 |
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News |
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Happy New Year From Everyone at Wilvo's
I hope everyone has recovered from the Christmas/New Year festivities. My phone was relatively quiet as far as wildlife was concerned. I hope that is a sign that animals are safe and well, and not an indication that native animal numbers are diminishing rapidly, due to our human impact!
WILVOS had some great news this week, in that the Gambling Community Benefit Fund, which was established by the Queensland Government in 1994 to help fund community groups, is giving us funds towards our two wildlife workshops with Dr Anne Fowler, a very accomplished wildlife veterinarian, on the 23 rd and 24 th February, 2008.
These will be held in Nambour and are open to everyone. Anne is a fascinating  presenter and will keep us spellbound on the Saturday with husbandry and diseases of birds, and then follow up on the Sunday with a workshop on husbandry and diseases of macropods, possums, echidnas and reptiles. Each workshop goes from 9 am to 5 pm and is $10 per day for WILVO members and still only $20 per day for non WILVO members. Our grant has enabled WILVOS to keep these costs to a minimum. Dr Fowler's workshops usually cost approximately $50 to attend down south so I hope plenty of people take this opportunity to listen to an expert in the field of wildlife care. We are privileged to have her visit up here. If you are interested in attending, please call Nalda on 5445771 or 0419 257418 and book your spot. Our thanks to the Gambling Community Benefit Fund- it is almost enough to make me take up gambling!
Just before Christmas, WILVOS set up a Saturday stall, when Dr Sheree Atkinson celebrated the Yandina Veterinary Surgery's first birthday. This was a fun day, with a pet show and various competitions for the cats and dogs. Though no World Champions were forthcoming, everyone had a good time and the pet owners won some great prizes to put under their Christmas trees for the animals! Sheree is one of the many vets on the Sunshine Coast who give of their time and expertise in helping our native animals. They are wonderful people. Thank you all.
I hope 2008 treats everyone kindly
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Len Beikoff to Present Bird Workshop
Well…Our WILVOS phone roster volunteers are tearing their hair out looking for wildlife carers along the coast when they receive calls for help in these areas. From Caloundra to Noosa, we just don't have enough carers. Our WILVOS hotline 5441 6200 phone number receives an ever-increasing number of calls about distressed birds/animals along this coastal section, and we need more people to even just pick up the animals and transport to wildlife carers. Other individual wildlife carers/groups are on the Sunshine Coast, and are permitted by the Environment Protection Agency but they just don't have the networking to provide this service, so WILVOS have to continually focus on this problem.
At the moment we are working on a letter drop/recruiting program in these coastal areas. Hopefully, it will be a productive investment of time and money. Our recent induction saw some keen new members joining and another induction/new carer's workshop is scheduled for the end of June. Often people will join WILVOS as Friends of Wilvos, (they don't need to attend the induction/new carer's workshops), so they can just enjoy our newsletter and discounted workshops, but then decide to progress further and do workshops and learn how to look after injured or orphaned wildlife. We all started knowing nothing or very little!!!!
 Our education ladies, Roslyn and Adele, who visit the schools are doing an amazing job. They decided it would be a good idea to present sample bags, containing wildlife inspired colour-ins and puzzles, to the children. As Ros and Adele talk to up to a hundred children a week, we decided one-per-child would be just too many sample bags to sew, but give one to each teacher who can then copy the material and pass on to the children. Nevertheless, Marie, ‘seamstress extraordinaire', started sewing and has already made over a hundred bags! I'm sure it's a pleasant change from sewing possum and kangaroo bags!
In the latter part of May we have a wildlife carer of many years, Len Beikoff, from Brisbane, who is going to present a workshop for us on bird care. Even those who don't look after injured birds still like to come along and listen. This is open to all WILVOS members so join now so you can have the privilege of listening to Len's wealth of knowledge.
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Buster is Getting Ready to Pack His Bags
Well……life on the farm could be getting quieter. With two kangaroos, Buster and Mirabelle  (I'm going to stay optimistic with this strange little girl!), going off to their new home soon and Tammy not far off departing into the wilds, I just might have a rest coming up. This doesn't usually eventuate but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Usually at this stage, some poor debilitated kangaroo comes in that needs intensive care – and then, once again, I'm a ‘gonna'!
On the ‘feral' side- we do have some cows we are ‘temporarily' minding for friends and they are a handful in themselves. One adorable little heifer had a calf, which decides it wants to wander all over the property, so we have to get the search party out each afternoon before dark. Being worried about the little horror, we have been milking Mum each morning and afternoon and giving the calf a bottle, just to make sure she is getting enough sustenance. What would I do without animals to look after!
There is a National Wildlife Rehabilitation Conference in Perth in early August and I am seriously thinking that I would like to be there. Probably just pipe dreams but we have to have dreams! Last time I went to one of these conferences it was just down the coast, but I had to take a gorgeous little injured kangaroo with me….this time, if it eventuates I plan on going minus animals! I don't think I would be allowed board a plane with a little joey anyway! Might be more dangerous than my knitting needles!
What fun calls we have had on the WILVOS 5441 6200 hotline this week. Rosemary had to go and pick up a sweet little blue-faced honeyeater from Blanck Street Vets in Maroochydore and was highly amused to see her patient. The little chick was nicely installed in tissues in an ice-cream container, with a well- padded bra propped up like a gazebo beside it. Very comfy!
Another kind gentleman, Rob, from Mountain Creek, has donated an aviary to Wilvos. This is just what is needed at Caloundra with one of our busy wildlife carers down there. Our coastal areas are so desperate for new carers. Our next induction/new carers workshop is only a couple of weeks ago so ring up WILVOS and talk to our membership secretary!
The charges I was babysitting have all gone home. Theresa and Claude's “Little Joe”, the red-necked wallaby, had a lovely time here with my macropods. Though Mirrabelle hissed at him and bossed him, he quite enjoyed the camaraderie, and is probably quite lonely at home without them. We have to find some friends for him, as it is not good for little wallabies or kangaroos to be reared alone.
I am looking forward to the weekend and the ride on a steam train, even if it is only Nambour to Yandina return. I think I am a bit of a train ‘buff'. My idea of relaxation is going down to Brisbane on the train, a journey I have to make every couple of months so my dermatologist can chop out some more sun cancers, the price I pay for being born and bred in Queensland! I love the fact I am away from the telephone and I can have a couple of hours just reading my books – peace and undisturbed quiet!
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"Little" Mirrabelle the Eastern Grey Kangaroo Can Put Up A Fight!.
Our WILVOS 5441 6200 number has some unusual calls, and we do have to resist the urge to go out and pick up stray dogs and stray feral birds….”There is a guinea fowl running along Nicklin Way”!!! We love all animals but have to direct some calls to more relevant organizations. Often people have trouble realizing that we look after Australian Native Wildlife and not ALL distressed animals, though most of us have been known to help out there as well, as we know all animals deserve our care and consideration. Nevertheless as our hands are full with native animals or native animal crises, and they are our priority, we do recommend other organizations.
Recently we had a call, through one of our “Friends of Wilvos” members, for help for a gentleman with a pet cockatiel. The bird fretted whenever “Kes”, her owner, left home, so this friend asked if WILVOS knew of anyone who could construct a  cage to go on the 4-wheeler wheelchair, so he could take “Marble” with him when he went out. This is not something in our usual range of expertise, but this was a special case. One of our members' husbands actually supplied a cage and just made up some quick fittings for the front of the wheelchair. Our wonderful Bob Whiting strikes again! He does many good deeds for people but does not like to be acknowledged, so would not let a photo be taken of him fitting the cage. Thank you Bob…..these people were very appreciative of your time and effort. The birdcage sits in front of him, with the shopping basket. Of course, it gets lots of comments!
The past week has not been one of my favourites - two days spending three hours of each on the road transporting kangaroos to release places, then another 3 hours in the car for a trip to Brisbane and back for a reunion. I despise car travel……I am a train or plane person! I feel the week has just flown and I've missed out on quality time with my animals! I don't like to be away from my macropods for long, as it means more hours of care in the long run, worrying about how stressed they can become. Little Mirrabelle, the eastern grey kangaroo I brought home to keep Buster happy , is the most nervous little animal but is gradually spending more time out grazing with my now ‘big and strong' Buster. She is actually bossy and belts him up, though almost half his size. Nevertheless, she is a worry. Jo reared her from a pathetic little 500 gram joey, which was on her deathbed, and she seems so fragile even at 3.5 kg. Her name does suit her! I do have time to spoil her with my big greys released and the released red-necks only returning maybe once a week.
When I saw a recent television programme showing kangaroo shooting and the associated abbatoirs I felt physically ill. We have domesticated livestock for the purpose of eating, so our wildlife should be left where they belong – in the wild. When money is involved, no animal is safe! Then I again see us chastising Japan for killing whales – a practice I abhor - but is this not “the pot calling the kettle black”?
It was with sadness that I received a phone call from Marjie Spies in Blackbutt to say her husband, John, had died on Monday 26th February, after losing his battle with cancer. John Spies was an incredible wildlife artist, who used his work to promote wildlife and environmental causes. As our WILVOS secretary, Jill, said "Marjie and John have always been genuine believers in the 'greater good'". John will be sadly missed.
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One Of My Most Rewarding Days.
In all my years of wildlife caring, today has been one of my most rewarding. We have plenty of days that are productive but none have been as inspiring for me as today.
Sylvia and I took the lovely “Shamika”, the eastern grey kangaroo, down to Anna the Ophthalmologist at the Specialist Veterinary Clinic for her final visit. It has been seven weeks since her initial cataract surgery and it has been an education in more ways than one.
On our first trip to Albany Creek, Brisbane, we were worried about transporting a grey kangaroo for one and a half hours without stressing her. The good old Rescue Remedy, along with a special ‘carry' bag sewed by our amazing seamstress, Marie James, worked wonders and “Shamika” travelled beautifully, regardless of the frazzled driver and navigator! We always put on a calm and composed front for our animals so as not to transfer any anxiety to them. Pass the Rescue Remedy please!
Our next challenge was taking her down two weeks later, for the actual operation and having to leave her there overnight. With a dog or a cat, this is bad enough, but with a kangaroo it is a major worry. I had never ever left a native animal overnight in a surgery before, so I was apprehensive, but Sylvia and I really did feel confident in the care offered at this specialist surgery, along with their knowledge and understanding of what native animals need, as opposed to domestic animals, though they dealt with both – dogs coming from as far away as Alice Springs and Darwin for cataract surgery.
With the operation on the first eye, Anna was worried because not all of the lens was able to be removed, leaving some lens protein, so rather than delay too long, she operated on the second eye, where all went like clockwork. “Shamika” has had weekly and fortnightly visits up until now and Sylvia has had to administer special drops daily over all this time to prevent any inflammatory reaction and the young grey girl has been very tolerant throughout all this. She is a gorgeous animal!
So today was the culmination of all this stress! Anna was optimistic up until this time but felt this final visit, after prior fortnightly visits, was necessary to determine the success of the operation. She really was quite ecstatic. “Shamika” and another grey kangaroo a little older had both come out of these operations with sight. Their long term prognosis otherwise had been euthanasia, as a kangaroo without sight does not have an optimistic outcome out in the wild, and it would be cruelty to put them in this situation.
We now have the ‘all clear' for “Shamika” to go to her next pre-release stage, where she will be monitored closely. Three to four months ago, this prospect was not looking good. So we are all very happy with the outcome.
None of this would have been possible without Dr Charlotte Ashton-Heinius from the Woombye Veterinary Clinic. When Charlotte first diagnosed “Shamika's” cataracts she said “leave it with me”, which means Charlotte is going to go to untold lengths to find a solution for our native animals! She is a truly amazing lady, and I am always astonished at how she will phone all over Australia and explore every avenue in treating our Australian native animals, as she does with all animals. Wildlife carers really appreciate this as we know it is not an economically viable pastime to treat native animals! Charlotte has the same caring attitude all with her domestic animals… I have often spoken to people waiting in her surgery who tell me how Charlotte has saved the life of their dog, cat, bird or fish! As I've said before -this lady is a legend! To track down a Veterinary Ophthalmologist willing to work on a kangaroo was just amazing in itself!
Once again, I must thank all those who contributed to “Shamika's” operation. In the next week she is going out to her release site, with her three friends – “Kerchak”, “Ella”, and “Bubba”, where they will be in a pre-release paddock for another few months. The Ophthalmologist, Anna, actually wants to go out and visit them in a few months time to check on their progress, even though this is an hour and a half from Yandina and another hour and a half to Anna's Surgery. That is real follow-up care! Grey kangaroos are very slow at releasing into the wild, so in this case this trait is a blessing! We will be able to keep tabs on them as they gradually adapt to their wild living.
Jo, their new carer, has a lovely property and along with her husband, Elvis, (yes, that really is his name!), has set up a wonderful environment for macropods. Since I visited her last, she has another four hammocks hanging on her verandah for her kangaroos. With all her animals in care, Jo still manages to keep her house and paddocks spotless, whips up a beautiful lunch for visitors, and loves looking after “pinkies', the little furless joeys that come in. Another Wonder Woman in wildlife!
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Cockatoos and Bread !
Ok…Ok….I'm not going to bore you all with macropod talk this week. I do love all native wildlife (even the rats are still surviving!), it is just that my kangaroos and wallabies have taken up so much of my attention these past months.
Before I get onto my next diatribe, I just want to thank all you wonderful supportive people out there who have contributed to our special cause of “Shamika's cataracts operation. Sylvia and I were going to meet the costs of this out of our own pockets (hopefully our husbands don't get to read this, or they'll know why they haven't had a good rump steak for weeks!). It restores my faith in human nature that people can care so much about a lovely native animal that they haven't even seen. Thank you all for your generosity, as it means we have so much less to pay out of our own savings to the very well-deserving veterinary specialists. Shamika is going back for weekly checkups, as any radical rise in eye pressure can mean glaucoma.
Yesterday, a friend from Brisbane rang me…..she always calls if she has a wildlife problem, and invariably it is one she has created herself – though she means well. The latest problem involves a group of sulphur-crested cockatoos. (Last year it was a family of rainbow lorikeets that had nested in the nestbox in her yard.) She swears these cockatoos all have ‘beak and feather syndrome”. (Kath always gives them some exotic disease so I'll deal with the problem quickly for her!). I explained that even vets can't give such a swift diagnosis at a glance! Once again, I had to diplomatically explain that the problem was probably nutrition-based, as she was feeding them bread every day.
Bread is very detrimental to the health of our native animals, even if just one person is feeding animals/birds bread. In the majority of cases, everyone in the neighbourhood is feeding bread or some other processed food so the poor animals don't stand a chance.
THE BEST OFFERING YOU CAN MAKE TO OUR BIRDS IS A CLEAN TRAY OF WATER EACH DAY, UP HIGH ENOUGH TO BE OUT OF THE WAY FROM DOGS, AND FROM CATS THAT HAVE ESCAPED FROM THEIR AVIARIES!
Invariably, people feed birds or other native animals and then they become dependent on this food supply and can then make a nuisance of themselves. Cockatoos and galahs are experts at this, as once the food isn't there, or even if it is, they decide to chew up the timber verandah railing or furniture on the balcony. Then of course people want them removed instantly, and expect someone else, i.e. WILVOS 5441 6200, to solve the problem! I remember myself, many years ago, deciding that galahs would like a little extra seed, so I hung some up in a tree each day. Naturally, they then decided it was entertaining to chew up all the orchids I had carefully attached to the tree. Realizing my own stupidity, I just left a hanging tray of clean water out each day and they were happy with this. Maybe they had chewed up all my orchids already – I can't remember!!!
Feeding bread to kangaroos and wallabies also can create a major problem. The animals get into the habit of expecting food from every human and will then jump up and scratch for same. This can become such a problem that the animal has to be removed, or put down. A tragedy that we can all prevent. In my opinion the safest option is to make water the only supplement offered to our native animals….and just grow all those wonderful native grasses and shrubs as a natural food source.
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Shamikas Visit To The Vet.
Somewhere in the December madness, Sylvia and I managed to get Shamika down to the Veterinary Specialist Centre at Albany Creek. It is truly amazing when we find our way somewhere without getting hopelessly lost. Even turning the map upside-down, in true female fashion, doesn't always help!
Travelling in a car with a 7 kg kangaroo, even when she is in a cosy bag hanging off the back of the seat, is always nerve-racking enough, especially as Shamika hasn't been using a bag to sleep in, preferring to lie out on the ground like an adult kangaroo. Nevertheless, she travelled beautifully, well dosed up with Rescue Remedy, which always seems to have a calming effect, whether on humans or animals. I took my share!
The Ophthalmologist, Anna, is a fascinating person who clearly described the forthcoming operation on the cataracts. She took the pressure reading in both eyes and found one was quite high compared with the other. All this information is very interesting as so little is known on cataract surgery on macropods. Anna explained that even in the early days of cataract surgery on dogs, the operation was not always successful, so no guarantees could be made. We hoped it would be similar as with humans, with a positive result appearing very soon after the operation. This is actually not the case, as it can take up to a couple of months for sight to return in a kangaroo.
Anna intended to do just one eye first, but said it would depend on the circumstances as surgery was performed. Initially an incision is made at the top of the eye and the cataract is broken up with a laser and sucked out through this incision. Sorry the terminology is not too technical but this is how my lay mind understood it all!
With the first eye, one piece of lens could not be drawn out, so rather than waste too much time there (anaesthetics are always a little bit of a worry), Anna decided to move on to the second eye, which went perfectly, or as well as was possible. Shamika was kept in overnight and was quite relaxed about the whole issue. The clinic had a little paddock at the surgery and she was quite happy to graze out there, for a short while, from time to time. It was very important to measure the pressure in her eyes for the twenty-four hours after surgery, and watch out for infection, but as all went well, Sylvia was able to pick her up the day after her surgery.
Within a week, Shamika's eyes had begun to clear, and hopefully on her follow-up visit, there will be a good report. We are very optimistic about the outcome.
The holiday has been taking its toll on our native animals, with more cars on the road and the usual incidents of cat and dog attacks. Personally, I've picked up possums, gliders, galahs and, of course, two cute little field rats whose mother had been killed by a cat. (How do these little rats always find me?) The cat obviously thought it was a feral rat, not understanding it was one of our sweet little native mammals. The veterinary surgeon that phoned wasn't sure of the exact identification and neither was I, except we knew it was a native rat, so I took the mother to our whiz-kid on rat identification – Dr Lyndall Pettett! All was revealed, and the little ones are now progressing well.
Though busy animal-wise we have had a short rest on the administrative side with WILVOS. That is now over and we are organizing the next Induction/New Carer's Workshop for those people who would like to join WILVOS and learn about our Australian native animals, and maybe even become an actual carer.
Just call our hotline 5441 6200 phone number for information on this upcoming event. This will be followed in a couple of weeks by a bird workshop, which provides an interesting education for all.
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A Sign of Good Things to Come.
I don't know where to start this week. It has not been a very memorable Christmas for me. Maybe that is a sign of a good year coming up!
My dear father passed away the Thursday before Christmas in the Care Centre at Sundale in Nambour. I cannot say enough kind words about the carers in at Charlton. They looked after Dad so well over the past four years and were always cheery and helpful.
The following day I gained a new understanding of the words ‘life goes on'. Of course, people don't know when these tragedies beset us, so the phone calls for injured and orphaned wildlife keep rolling in. Dad always loved it when I took my little animals in to visit him.
I had been into Sundale to collect Dad's belongings and arrived home physically and emotionally exhausted when my brother rang from Dalby and asked if I could take Dad's chosen burial clothes into the funeral home within half an hour, when Dad would be taken back to his home town of Toowoomba. Just as I was about to hop in the car again and drive back to Nambour, a lady rang to say there was a sick possum in a tree up near the hospital. I tried to calmly ask how I would find this elusive tree, without sounding totally hysterical and “John Cleese” like! Nevertheless, this kind lady gave me excellent directions and so I found the poor ringtail possum, put her in a carry cage and off we went to the vets. She was past help and had to be euthanased, but the vets did have a young injured galah that needed care!!! No worries! Meanwhile, I'd forgotten to leave Dad's favourite photo at the funeral directors so galah and I drove back there. We then proceeded home where I collapsed with a welcome cup of tea and sandwich, and rang friend Sylvia to come and pick up the galah which would be well cared for in her hands.
Of course, my animals are totally aware of the chaos in my life and must have their normal routine,  which is probably a ‘sanity saver'. “Tammie”, the little swamp wallaby, now likes to wake up around five o'clock and bounce around madly in the paddock and up on the verandah until I appear with her bottle. Meanwhile the kangaroos think it is a good time to ‘fight' each other and make a racket. “Bubba” still calls out, pleading for his milk, regardless of the fact he is now over 8 kg and eating grass continually and is only on two bottles of formula a day.
“Kelowna” and “Tom Tom” have a new friend out with them in their release stage. “Jacylyn” is a sweetie and after a week in the paddock is now out enjoying her freedom.
This week also saw Sylvia, with me as navigator ‘extraordinaire', drive “Shamika” down to the specialist centre for her operation. For us to find our way around, even on the north side of Brisbane, is a marathon. Neither of us have any sense of direction, so we set off with many maps and directions and “Shamika” and I in the back of the car, one as nervous as the other! We amazingly arrived ten minutes early. Our only digression was once when we thought we had gone too far, so backtracked, only to realize we should not THINK, we should just believe the map! So now we are keeping our fingers and toes crossed. So little is known about our native animals, compared with domestic animals, and it is just wonderful that veterinarian specialists are pioneering in many fields of their care.
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Bob-a-Job's and the New Year.
By the time you read this we will all be in between the festive Christmas and the festive New Year, my dilemma being – “Can I really stay awake till midnight on Sunday night?”
The year 2006 cannot go past without thanking our wonderful supporters of WILVOS for the year. I am continually inspired by the work done for WILVOS by people who do not actively care for wildlife but want to help in some other way.
One gentleman, Max Collings, has been building wire cages for us for some years. He makes excellent cages which enables our wildlife carers to buy a well designed and constructed cage for an affordable price. Max does not accept any remuneration for this so it is very generous of him. It is such a big help to our new members to be able to set themselves up with the appropriate equipment from the beginning. It is definitely easier than trying to make ones own cage. For myself, if I try to make any type of wire cage I end up looking and feeling like I've been rolling around in a barbed wire fence for a week!
Then we have our two “Bob-a-Jobs”, as I call them. Bob Whiting cuts out and constructs our possum and glider boxes, while Bob Ohlback paints them, with a paint that will extend their life up in the trees. Again, these gentlemen don't even get a ‘bob' for all their work! These boxes are given to carers when their possum or gliders get to an appropriate age. This box then goes through the rehabilitation program with the possum/glider and when the animals are taken out to their release site in the mobile aviary, it has the comfort of a familiar home. The possums/gliders are then placed up in a tree, in this same box and it is left there. With the amount of tree clearing going on there can never be enough ‘homes' put up for our displaced animals.
We have just had another four people attend Jill's entertaining and informative training session for new phone roster volunteers. I was speaking to one lady who told me it was a morning well-spent, and she can't wait to do some time on the phone roster. These volunteers do a wonderful job. Our 24 hour hotline is the crux of the whole WILVOS organization. Without this phone contact there would be no WILVOS.
The first Sunday in February sees our next induction for new members who wish to actively care for native animals. Those who wish to become a member, but not actively care for animals still call the hotline number and the volunteer on roster will give out the phone number of the membership secretary, who will send out the relevant information on becoming a member and the benefits of same. The Government Legislation, relating to wildlife care, is explained and is followed by information on 24 hour care for rescued animals. This gives the new member some general information to help them out till they can get the animal to an experienced carer for assessment. The new carer, who of course is attending all the other interesting workshops throughout the year, can then care for the orphaned or injured bird/animal, while working along with an experienced carer.
People don't realize the places where we are really stretched for wildlife carers is along the coastal areas. All along the coast there are many birds, mammals and reptiles being injured or orphaned and it means a long drive for carers off the coast to go and pick these animals up. The more carers, the less overloaded WILVOS members become.
This past month has seen incredible support from the local community with donations for a cataract operation for the beautiful  eastern grey kangaroo “Shamika”. Sylvia and I are taking her down to a Specialist Veterinary Hospital in Brisbane just before New Year. This would not be possible without all you wonderful people out there. We are extremely nervous and just hope it all goes well. As with all surgery there are risks attached but we are being optimistic as we bite our nails to the quick!
I'd like to thank Peter Wellington, our local Member of Parliament, and his staff Vicki and Wendy, who are always so happy to help us with photocopying when needed. They are always so supportive of WILVOS and though so busy, they still find time to help us out.
To all those who bought tickets in the WILVOS raffle, good luck and thanks again to those who sent in extra donations with their tickets. It is most appreciated at this time of year when the purse strings are stretched more than usual. My family are receiving meagre presents this year as my kangaroos have gobbled up all my savings! They're worth it! My main present to family and friends is for them to come and sit on my verandah on Christmas afternoon and enjoy some good old ham, chook and salad. It is not a day when I exercise my culinary skills, I just like to relax and enjoy myself!
I received a lovely Christmas present before Christmas. “Buster” my little grey kangaroo, whose mother was killed by a bus, had his splints and bandages taken off. His green-stick fractures have healed perfectly with him being so young, and he is now finding his balance as he happily stands on the grass, looking amazed that he is actually allowed move around!
“Tammie” the swamp wallaby resembles a wind-up toy. At the last bottle feeding on the verandah, she just couldn't wait, so jumped onto a chair, then to the table and then to my lap! I have had a swamp wallaby land in my bar-b-que plate once, just as I was enjoying my lovely meal! They are adorable little terrors!
“Kelowna” still returns each day for a little dry rolled oats and “Tom Tom” joins her, as I try to be tough and wean him down to one bottle a day, but he sees me feeding the others through the fence and feels rejected so I weaken! “Ella” and “Bubba” are just blooming with “Bubba” now 8 kg and “Ella” 7 kg. “Bubba” is no longer a ‘bubba' – he is a well-mannered adolescent kangaroo! After Christmas they'll be getting together with their old friends “Kerchak” and “Shamika” before going to their release site, with a delightful lady who enjoys her kangaroos as much as I do.
WILVOS would like to wish you all a very happy, healthy and prosperous 2007.
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WILVOS Visit to North Arm State School.
Last week WILVOS were invited to the North Arm State School to receive a cheque from their latest fundraising venture. The school has done some major fundraising and chose WILVOS as one of the three organizations to benefit from these funds. WILVOS are very appreciative of all the work put in by the students, parents and teachers of the North Arm State School. It is a delightful school, and it is always entertaining to attend morning parade. We love to visit schools, as the students are the future for our Australian wildlife.
I am constantly amazed at the generosity of people. Following my article on the beautiful little eastern grey kangaroo with the cataracts, donations have been received and people have been buying the lovely little plush cows that were so generously donated by Ray Grace to help raise funds for the operation, which is a special project. WILVOS, as an organization, cannot be expected to pay for these types of operations so it has become a special cause of mine! It is so kind of the Woombye Veterinary Surgery to sell these quaint toys, and to receive donations for “Shamika”. Dr Charlotte and Kelly – you are legends! “Shamika's” carer has a lot less expense to meet and is just overwhelmed by everyone's generosity.
The cataract operation will be done in a couple of weeks. If people could see this gorgeous animal hopping around in her paddock, they would know it is a worthwhile cause. While I looked after “Shamika” for a week, she was unfamiliar at first with her surroundings so just did small circles around me and I had to watch she didn't run into anything. At her own home she is quite confident within the area she has grown up, and is otherwise just so healthy and fit. It is still sad to see her without her old freedom to race around anywhere and everywhere, but that will return after the operation and we'll all be grabbing for our tissues!
I was given the most wonderful card this week, made by the Yandina State School Year 3/4 class. WILVOS visited them recently as they were doing a segment on Australian native wildlife. The  knowledge of those children astounded me – they had learned so much on this very important subject. My card was signed by each child, but to each name was added a fact about an Australian native animal. Each child had to do their research and come up with this fact and write it down beside their name. How lucky they are to have Miss Sandra as their teacher. This well-mannered, interested and knowledgeable class was a credit to her.
I must be a total masochist – I elected to present the macropod workshop last Sunday for the WILVOS. With my love for wallabies and kangaroos this was not difficult, but much sleep was lost in preparing the manual! As always, many of our new WILVO members attended and everyone really enjoyed the workshop – or so they told me! This was followed by a possum workshop. Next workshop to be held is the baby bird workshop and then we are into the Christmas break.
Alan, of the Nambour Weekly, asked me when I was taking time off over Christmas, so as to work out what days I would be able to submit my WILVOS articles for the Weeklies. Alan - don't you know – volunteers don't get time off! Only the paid workforce gets this privilege! I even volunteered to do a couple of hours on Christmas Day for our WILVOS 54 416200 hotline number. We just can't get our native animals to understand we need Christmas Day off! They should hide away from all cat, dogs and cars for the holiday period and then we'd have very few calls!
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Nesting Fairy Martins.
Today I seem to have more time to catch up on chores – must be because I'm not standing in the kitchen mixing milk formula and feeding kangaroos and wallabies all day! My ‘babysitting' week is over and I miss my little friends who have all gone home. It was fun having Kerchak back here for the week. There is a special joy in watching a number of macropods together. Their interaction is always entertaining. Nevertheless, Kelowna comes back to visit me, Tom the Terror is spending some time in my paddock and some time out, and Ella and Bubba are just great pals. Tarzie has settled in with his new friends. Soon my greys will have to move on to their release place.
Last week one of our members picked up a beautiful little female swamp wallaby, just furring up, healthy but somewhat dehydrated. This is Jan's first macropod, though she has done two WILVOS macropod workshops, and it was ‘love at first sight'. ‘Tammy' is doing very well and it is great to have another macropod carer around.
Our 5441 6200 24 hour hotline seems to be operating well, thanks to all the work Jennifer and Peter put into keeping the volunteers up to date with changes etc. Sometimes there are ‘hiccups' with the diversion but mostly all goes well. This hotline has been running for so many years as a 24 hour service, run by our volunteers, but there are many people who still don't know about it. Though it is preferable to contact our 5441 6200 as soon as possible for the animal's sake, if people don't know the WILVOS phone number most now know that they can take injured or orphaned native animals, free of charge, to their local vet who has a list of WILVOS wildlife carers in their area. Because a vet surgery is a very foreign environment for a native animal, it is better if they can go direct to a carer through our hotline. We send an updated contact list out to interested vets each two to three months. We are so fortunate in that so many of our local veterinarians are willing to have their names on this list, along with the list of wildlife carers.
My mission for this week is to find an affordable couple of acres, with rundown dwelling on it, somewhere between Caboolture and Cooroy for a wildlife friend. This lady has reared four lovely children in a little rented house which is now for sale. With rentals becoming scarce it is more practical to buy a little place, though these are also hard to come by at a realistic price. So if anyone hears of any bargains out there, this lady has excellent references. You can contact me through 54 416200. I couldn't even find my hairbrush this past week, so I'd better hone my searching skills!
For some reason or other there have been a huge number of birds, nestling fairy martins, coming in from the Caloundra area. People are often well-meaning but remove these birds when it is not necessary. We do like to think that people remove these birds and nests with good intentions. Their mud nests may not look as if they are in the perfect spot, often under culverts, but they do know what they are doing! If birds fall out of their nests it is better to put them up in an artificial nest (an ice-cream container with drainage holes in the bottom and a little natural nesting material) strung up high enough to be away from cats – THAT HAVE ESCAPED FROM THEIR AVAIRIES! Swallows/fairy martins will come in and not only feed their own young, but others as well, so unless absolutely out of the question, please, please, please leave them in their area.
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WILVOS Chairperson Presents Research on Koala Oral Health.
I really don't like going near shops at this time of year. The rush is on, one can feel the pressure mounting from the moment the car hits the town environs.
Why do people get into this Christmas panic while we should all be sitting back and thinking what it is all about, where it all began, and remembering our traditions. All we need for Christmas is that our family and friends are all safe and happy, and we are all able to get together for a little socializing. Gifts, yes, but limit them to $5 or $10. My favourite presents are always the ones handmade by friends or family. I treasure them forever – to the horror of my two now- grown-up children who still have to look at some of their primary school masterpieces!
Christmas holidays always take a toll on our wildlife, with the extra traffic on the roads and the extra plastic bags floating around in our waterways, just to mention a couple of culprits! What can we do to compensate for this? We do feel better if we give back something to our wild animals.
So what do we buy or make for friends and family for Christmas? Top of the list of course is the cat aviary, followed by accessories for same! Nestboxes for possums, gliders and birds mean years of entertainment watching these houses being occupied by the different native animals. It is a pleasure to watch young being raised in these boxes. We feel like we have done something to compensate for mans impact on our native wildlife.
Native plants, whether they be grasses, shrubs or trees, are always welcomed by people and animals. When buying native plants, always try to buy plants indigenous to our area, and don't forget to buy native fruiting plants as well as the nectar shrubs. Just last week a group of us at Fairhill Native Plant Nursery were watching an incredible variety of birds feasting on the fruit from a native fig tree. When we tried these same fruits on our possums and gliders they too thought they were delicious fruits, so it would be busy around that tree at night as well.
Our illustrious Chairperson of WILVOS has flown over to New Zealand for the Australasian Wildlife Management  Conference and is presenting her research and studies on “The Oral Health of Koalas in Queensland”. We are all very proud of Lyndall, who is quite a brilliant scientist. Lyndall would like to have presented a paper on possums but felt that it would not have been very well-received in New Zealand! She would probably be deported!
Val and David, who so kindly loan us their cottage in Nambour for our monthly committee meetings, hosted a dinner for committee members recently. Just one thing – next time I will not sit near Lyndall Pettett! Her expertise in the field of oral health in koalas may be phenomenal, but it does not make for good dinner conversation!
Nevertheless, organizations always seem to have so much administration work involved in the day-to-day running and it was nice to have these volunteering hours acknowledged by Val and David at their very enjoyable get-together.
This weekend will be another busy couple of days. Vet, Sheree Atkinson, is opening her new Veterinary Surgery in Yandina, and WILVOS will be there from 10 am to 2 pm.
WILVOS members are also looking forward to their Christmas party this weekend. It is a chance to chat to new and old members. So often at workshops, we just don't have the time to talk to everyone so this weekend will be a pleasant change.
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School Vists, Bird Walks and Workshops.
We WILVOS can't say our lives are boring – we are all quite multi-skilled! Part of our responsibility as volunteer wildlife carers is to educate our young Australians, in their schools, on the wonders of our native wildlife. We also like to visit other community venues, such as retirement villages, as our animals bring joy to so many people.
We don't always have animals suitable for interaction with people, but when we do we like to take them out for brief visits. We recently spent a lovely morning at Sundale Garden Village in Nambour. We hear some fascinating stories and acquire knowledge as well.
At the schools, the children always have wonderful stories to tell – usually how their cat ate a bird or their dog chased a possum or a kangaroo!!! Nevertheless, that is why it is important for WILVOS to educate our young students. They will grow up knowing the importance of keeping their cat in its aviary (is everyone sick of me ‘harping' on cat aviaries???) and of keeping their dog restrained. Maybe they will grow up to be wildlife carers or wish to further their education on environmental issues.
The first Sunday in December WILVOS are holding a bird workshop, which is convened by Denise French, a very experienced bird carer and a very knowledgeable instructor in wildlife care. Because the majority of animals that come into care are birds, we need to keep teaching our members how to look after them. Even experienced wildlife carers enjoy all these workshops.
There is always something new out there to learn. I remember at Fairhill Nursery some months ago, at their monthly Bird Club walk, a lady was telling us how she now had so much more success with rehabilitating birds that had flown into windows. The normal practice is to put them into a shoebox, or larger carton if necessary, and cover them over and give them time to recover from their shock. This lady improved the survival rates by making sure the bird was propped up with a towel (or similar) wrapped around it so its head was straight up and not flopping on the side.
Once again our phone roster for the 24 hour WILVOS hotline is coming out and it's difficult to fill those shifts, especially at this time of year when so many people are going away. The phone is diverted to our home phones and we do a shift from 5 pm to 9 am, 9 am to 5 pm, or a six hour shift over the weekends. It's really quite a simple job and we do provide training. Jill, our wonderful secretary, put her hand up to give people a session of phone roster training. This will be held in the next couple of weeks on a Monday morning so if anyone is interested, please call the WILVOS hotline on 54 416200. Ask them to pass your details on to our secretary Jill. Knowing Jill, this would be educational and entertaining. She always gets a chuckle out of us at our monthly meetings! One doesn't have to be a WILVO member to help out on the phone roster, though most people think it is worth paying $15 a year to be a WILVO, even if not an active carer. Our Friends of Wilvos are happy to just receive our tri-monthly newsletter, attend our workshops at discounted prices, or maybe help out in some specific way.
The Christmas Season has begun. Val and David Harris very generously loan us a cottage behind their house for our monthly committee meetings, and they'd like a pre-Christmas get together with the committee, as we never ever have enough time to catch up at other times. I am looking forward to this as my social life has been minimal lately, with so many macropods demanding my time!....
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A Very Special Lady.
This week I met a very special lady. Just through a phone call I spoke to some one with whom I had an instant rapport.
It was Sunday and the normal rat-race at my place, but this lady needed help with an annoying Australian marsupial – the irascible antichinus. I took two different traps in which I hope would catch these little ‘terrors', so could catch them and then relocate them in the nearby bushland, but also close off the door entrances.
These little Australian marsupials are normally just identified as mice and caught in traps and disposed of as vermin. This lady knew better. I just have great admiration for the fact that she knew so much about these little Australian native animals. I did not know of them until ten or so years ago!
I am continually amazed at how individuals can go to so much bother to protect our native animals. Such a contrast to some of the calls we get where it is a case of “get rid of them or we'll kill them!”
It would have been quite easy for this lady to just use the old style mouse trap/rat trap and kill these ‘little horrors' but no….. this lady wanted to do the right thing. I'd like to mention the fact that this lady was going into hospital for a major operation within the next week, and was worried about losing sleep because of these little animals. They were keeping her awake every night and how she retained her patience for so long I do not know.
Sunday afternoon is no different to any other afternoon for our volunteers. We are complete masochists. But really I just had this call from a lady that no one else would help. So I took around two different traps and crossed my fingers they would work. I painted the base of the door with pine disinfectant, hoping it would deter the little horrors. The following day I went around to check….no captures but no droppings either so maybe the little devils are outside.
We will wait and see…….I really want to make sure these animals are outside as this gorgeous lady is having an operation on Friday and does not want to come home to antichinus having a chick every night.
We meet some lovely people as we go out on our rescues.
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Our Busiest Time With The Approach of Spring.
The WILVOS hotline (5441 6200) has been running hot lately, with the approach of spring.
I have been busy organizing the building of my kangaroo paddock for Tarzan and his friends. My husband and his friends have done a great job. Still a few thousand fencing clips to go in, gates to go up, shelters to be constructed and mesh to be pegged down with hundreds of tent pegs , but it is looking good!
Thank you to those wonderful people who rang me about corrugated iron for the shelters. All donations were extremely welcome.
Because the fence has a ‘skirt' laid out on the ground for 50cm at the base, this all has to be pegged down so I had this great idea that I would get out the pliers and cut up 8 gauge wire and bend into hooks to make the pegs. I have done this before but not needed such vast quantities. After nursing blistered hands, someone suggested buying tent pegs from the discount stores. What a great idea, good value for twenty cents each, compared with blistered fingers, except that I could only find 130 of same in Nambour! After buying out Nambour's tent pegs I went to the second-hand store in Yandina where I bought their whole box of assorted tent pegs! I just finished hammering in the last of these this afternoon so off to the ‘yellow pages' again tomorrow.
Two weeks ago, I had a call for another young joey on the Yandina - Bli Bli Road. The female grey kangaroo had been killed by a car and fortunately a young lad in a car following soon after saw the young in-pouch joey. Kerchak is going well and is now over 2 kilograms. Tarzan thinks he is a good friend, though not too active yet. He stands beside the pouch and grooms his new young friend.
 Also, to arrive this week is “Ella”, a female grey who is a little smaller than Tarzan but it is great to be getting a couple together. It is so important to raise a mob of grey kangaroos together, so they get to socialize with their own kind instead of humans. The three are all still on five bottles a day, but Tarzan and Ella will come down to four once they adjust to the changes in their lives.
Amongst all the chaos, we did our yearly pilgrimage to the Gympie Muster and I did enjoy my sleep-in both mornings, along with my ‘nana-nap' each afternoon. Friends are always surprised I can sleep through all the noise –as when I am home and there is one little call from a joey, I am instantly awake!
This week I'll certainly be sleeping with one eye open – now we have a new ‘boarder' in the house. We always have to deal out plenty of TLC to grey kangaroos when they change carers!
Donna Anthony
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Reptile Workshop
The WILVOS 5441 6200 phone number has been receiving quite a few snake calls with the warmer weather on the way. Because of public liability and the required permits, WILVOS members cannot remove snakes. In most cases, snakes will just be moving through our gardens, (hopefully to a far away neighbours yard!). We | |
