Moses....

Well, Moses has done well so far. He has and is challenging our resident male. Phil watched 2 nights ago the goings on between the two. It was very even in terms of the pushing and shoving. The odd bite but both parties are fine. Interestingly both have head marks from fighting which means neither one is backing down. There was a larger third wombat in the equation who kept going, then coming back and almost antagonizing Boney Bum. Eventually Boney Bum chased him off. Then he collapsed as this type of behaviour takes an incredible amount of energy out of wombats.

It is why if a wombat is not strong enough physically to cope, it will be killed as if they are doing to challenge a territory, it is not only strength but stamina that allows them to survive. If it gets horrific, we step in. If its evenly matched and 'males being males' then we let them sort themselves out in terms of hierarchy. The sooner they sort it out the better of course.

Daphne is still around but keeping a low profile I would say with the latest activity going on. Wise lady:). We received a new recruit yesterday. A young male who although is quite imprinted (ie tame) he will do well. He was raised by a new carer who has given him a little bit too much love but they have done a great job in that he is healthy and certainly has the tendencies which he now has to develop. So all good.  It will be a harder adjustment for him initially as his 'comforts' will most certainly be removed but after what we have seen in the bush over the last 48 hours, it only confirms you have to send the strongest and fittest back into the bush to survive.

In keeping with the theme of a 'crap week' last week we lost the little guy who had come in. We couldn't have saved him as he had a huge amount of bruising and blood which started to show so he had obviously taken the impact of his mother being hit. Very sad but that is just the way it goes. At least he wasn't eaten alive by bull ants. Back to it. Travel safe and have a great weekend.

Lesson for life - might save that for later:)

So the new little guy is doing really well but I hate to put that into words as it can change so quickly with the little wombats. He is drinking very well which is the first thing to go wrong if they are going to go downhill. I also might just put a reminder out there that the work we do with the wildlife and wombats is completely voluntary:). And that wombats are nocturnal:).

Veg and her little bub are doing brilliantly. Her wounds are healing so so well. Some observations of a pregnant wombat - as we have never had one in care actually pregnant - it appears pregnant wombats eat more and sleep more. Veg is clearly eating for two and is sleeping almost 20 hours per day.  I had never thought about any correlation to being pregnant as a human being but having been there myself, its an interesting comparison:).

We opened up the enclosure area again for Moses during the week and he did not come back. He has gone in the direction of the creek and decided to give living in the bush his best shot. Boney Bum the resident male hasn't been around which might mean he is asserting himself and his territory because a new male is 'in town' so to speak. Hopefully everybody will behave themselves and we won't have any injured males.

New addition!

So a new VERY tiny addition has arrived into Sleepy Burrows. A little male wombat, around 140g I would say. The reason why he has such a strong chance is that he was found not long after his mother was killed thankfully. Not far from where we live so we were able to get him quick smart. Its never good to start your morning off with having a large dead female delivered but if she has a joey, the joey deserves a chance at life. 
 
You can see him on Youtube Sleepy Burrows
Will he survive? Good question. It is up to mother nature. Some this tiny do, some don't. Only the fittest will survive from this age. As humans we can never match what a mother wombat does to raise a joey, we can only try our best. This means 2 hourly feeds around the clock, constant temp of 28-30 degrees and he needs to be lubricated regularly so that his skin does not dry out as in his mothers pouch it is constantly moist. He had to be cut out of the pouch so that you do not injure them when removing them. 

You give a male freedom....

Forgot again to update on Moses. He was severely beaten up when we collected him almost a  year ago now. He is now a healthy strong male wombat.

Men, you cannot please them *lol* - yes yes, that is a joke. We released Moses 2 nights ago, thinking he would revel in his freedom and find a nearby burrow and start excavating....but no......oh he had a wonderful time but ultimately did a huge loop around and in the morning - sound asleep in his enclosure, he had come back:). That is absolutely fine. They are not always ready when us humans 'think' they are. We will just give him the opportunity again in the future and eventually he will decide the bush is where he belongs.

Snow on the ranges - literally

I've put up a photograph of what the enclosure area looked like at 6:30am last Friday morning. We knew we had a cold front coming but never did we think we would wake up in October to so much snow. The most we have had here. It was just beautiful. And really not cold either. It was freezing by 9am when it started to rain and melt the snow.

The other one is of Miss J and Bella - both looking outside of the fence, wanting to go for a run *lol*.  Madam J has been sick and we spent almost the entire Sunday at the hospital and doctors. Its horrible when they are ill and you cannot make it go away. Thankfully her antibiotics are now kicking in and she is at least eating a bit and getting noisier again - which must mean she is starting to feel better.

Oh and If you have a home loan in Australia, you will want to be part of  https://www.onebigswitch.com.au/ 
I keep forgetting, and another thing. Be careful with what the big banks are advertising - that you can pause your home loan - no such thing. They in fact continue to take payments and at no point pause your repayments.  In fact it means they take repayments out of your savings or redraw. 
I discovered today that with not being passed on the full interest rate cuts in the last 12 months, it has cost our home loan an extra $12,000 in interest. So get on One Big Switch and let them know consumers are not happy anymore with this. 

Bee careful - I told you so!

I'm learning that as a mother, you can say things over and over but eventually you just have to let 'nature' take its course:). One said toddler experienced her first bee sting today - and as much as I don't want to sound like my own mother - I said it *aarrgghhhh* - I told you so *lol*. Oh what a drama, truly. She has been bitten by a wombat (another I told you so lesson) and cried for 20 seconds, if that. This time round, oh my word, I reckon the birds are deaf! I was showing her the gorgeous tree with its spring blossoms, clearly this outing missed the point for her. Maybe tomorrow......

And why do we feed baby's formula? Truly. What you put in with a bottle, just comes out both ends! The formula companies must be laughing:). Have also made a mental note to not buy any new furniture or carpets until said daughters are at least 21 *lol*. And people think wombats are destructive - they have competition apparently.

Miss G - she is doing my head in. I have never seen a wombat react the way she has after being attacked. She took a claw off last night and when this happens to a wombat, the amount of blood which flows is just amazing. It looked like she had lost so much but on seeing the claw gone, it all made perfect sense.

Veg - she is doing okay. Her little one in the pouch continues to grow and kick so its doing well. Veg's wound will still be a long time in healing. All up she took about 5 stitches (10cm) out but the wound is looking good and the vet is pleased with her progress. With the warmer weather it will be not so much fun as we have to keep her out of the reach of flies so it will be night time walks with her until the wound is completely sealed over.

The other attacked males here are doing much better. Harry met (no not Sally) but Moses the other afternoon. Moses won, he got the burrow:). Soldier does not even bother with the younger males now. He knows that he can put them out of action by just sitting on them with his size.

Right, off to do enclosures.
PS: have you bought a wombat calendar for 2013 from NARG yet? If not, please do so:)

The mind is playing tricks...

I thought I was seeing things today when driving home. I saw something moving on the side of the road. I automatically expected to see an echidna but no, I saw a moving cow pat (cow dung)!!!!! After looking twice I realised it was a turtle who had come out of hibernation *lol*, still with the cow pat attached to its shell. No hard guess where this particular turtle hibernated during the winter:).

Well Veg spent her first time outside last night since her surgery and she did really really well. She slept brilliantly as a result. It did her the world of good. Her joey is still doing very well so holding thumbs that it survives all of this. Now off outside. Hope everybody is enjoying the gorgeous Spring weather.

Support us, 2013 WOMBAT CALENDARS are out buy now

http://www.narg.asn.au/

Please please go to the above link and order a wombat calendar for 2013 or 10. This is our groups main fundraiser for the year to help all of our carers in the VOLUNTEER work which we do.

...and I have forgotten how to spell kyte (?)

Ah, it is kite:) If you are into kite flying, today is the day for you. Blowing a gale after yesterdays rain. And if you have one of the kites that you can jump with, today you will be jumping *lol*. Clearly I have also forgotten how to use the ride on mower as I've managed to stall it twice before getting out of the gate! I have discovered a new site on the net, Squidoo. Seen it yet? Its quieter than Facebook but a lot of interesting pages or 'lens's' as they call them. Great ideas from recipes to children's books, places around the world, etc.

One more thing on my mind actually.....

While I say there are a lot of people who don't care about wildlife or if they hit and kill a kangaroo (some applaud themselves sadly) there is a very large percentage of people who do in fact care about the wildlife and I believe a percentage which is increasing thankfully. The rather 'red neck' attitude towards Australian wildlife is not something to be proud of anymore.

.....And I need to explain something more clearly as I've had comments of 'maybe they didn't know the wombat was dead'. Sadly they would have. There are 'pockets' in rural Australia where animals of all kinds are just despised. Why? Maybe its people's upbringing, who knows but it exists very strongly in some areas. Therefore, some of the places we deal with, the animals are specifically target on the road sides. For example, it is not uncommon to get a call from a very distressed family or person who is driving in one of these particular areas to call the after hours number saying that they are behind somebody who has intentionally swerved and done this. And then driven off to the local pub for a drink and left the animal alive. Why am I telling you this? Who knows, maybe it will just make people more aware, I don't know. Maybe make some people think to become nicer human beings, lets hope so:). 

So this is what a car does....

After some thought, I'll put a photo of Veg up so that people can see what a car does. If it is a low vehicle, it does not always kill the animal but rather slices them. The result, the animal runs off or is left to die very slowly. I know not everybody likes or cares about wildlife but as a gentle reminder, it is in fact illegal to hit an animal (of any kind) and leave it alive, unattended. It is so easy to just call and say 'I've hit a wombat, it ran off, can you go and look' and the response would be no problem at all.

Wildlife run out at night on roads - of course it happens. Most get killed but if not, it is no problem to make a call. I know it upsets some people when they hit something and they just drive. Again, completely understandable but again, so simple to just call so it is dealt with by somebody else. It is not pleasant having to be somebody who puts a lot of animals down but at least it prevents the suffering. 

Veg was one of the lucky ones as she knew to come back to the house where she knew she would be helped. She is not nearly in the clear yet but at least she has a good chance. Her baby is still alive so that is also a bonus.

Not so lucky was the female wombat found by another carer on the side of the road 2 days ago - imagine this dear people - hit by a car, your back is broken and you are moved off the road and put on your back in the gutter. The most disgusting part about this - the female wombat was ALIVE. Things like this just disgust me to the core. So she was on her back, unable to move, with a baby still in her pouch, with birds trying to peck her eyes out and bull ants starting to eat at her. THAT is the reality of what happens. I get sick just thinking about it and no, this is not the first time sadly. This happens a lot with wombats or other animals whose backs are broken and they cannot turn over and who are still alive.

As I said, I know not everybody cares but blatant cruelty to a living creature, I just do not understand and I cannot comprehend it. Off to do some work before the bad weather hits but thought I would share what comes our way. I wish it was always good news but sadly not so. At least the sun is shining and it is a beautiful day.

The hours just seem to be running one into the other here, no day or night specifically. Hard enough trying to do the food shopping! If you want variety in life, just add a toddler:).

I was going to put up a photo or two of Veg to show what damage a car can do but I think they might upset people. We are on day 8 and she has pulled 1 or 2 stitches out last night. Not good at all. If her stitches come out, we are in trouble. If her wound opened up, it would be the size of a side plate - a very big wound and we would not be able to restitch it.

We are going to bandage her back feet up so she cannot scratch but I am not sure how long that will last as until you have dealt with a wombat's stubbornness, its hard to believe what they are capable of. But we have to try at least. Her baby is still alive and doing well from what we can tell. Veg is otherwise relaxed and eating well so that is good.

Miss G, well she is just in a world of her own. She is recovering well. Boney Bum - he continues to cause havoc and fences around enclosures have to get higher and higher. Unbelievable. We have another attacked male who we have to catch and treat. Trying to get an injured wombat out of a burrow - not an easy task in the slightest.

Tug has finally moved up the back to one of the enclosures and he has turned overnight, literally. Which is good for his rehabilitation back into the bush - just another set of mobile teeth that we have to look out for and not be ambushed by. Wombats do not ambush people, please don't think they lie in wait in the bush *lol* however when young males 'turn', they do get very aggressive and while we have raised them, we have to respect their change as it is how they will survive in the wild. Sometimes in the early stages they will still come up from their burrow if they hear us so we have to be very careful if they do. The ultimate result is that they do not come up at all during the daylight hours which is what Tug has been doing for a while now so he is on his way to a great release.

 Back to it here.

Oops

Hmmm, you know you are a bit sleep deprived when you put your toddlers dirty clothes in the bin and the dirty nappy in the washing machine!!! Even worse, you don't realise you have done it until you go to turn the washing machine on!

I'm not impressed

Well, we found Veg.......with her neck half slit open, right down to the muscle and more. The only way she could have gotten an injury so severe is if a car has hit her and driven off. How she is still alive, I don't know. To the arsehole who hit her (it would have been around the property gate), all they had to do was come and tell us. So for 3-4 weeks, Veg has been trying to get back to the house for help.

She was rushed to the best vet in the world, Joseph at Gundaroo Vet Clinic and was in surgery for 1.5 hours. Watching Joseph clean out the wound, cut what he had to out and then try and stitch was just incredible. How he managed to stitch her up, I do not know and wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't been there. Worse still, we discovered that her baby wombat in her pouch is alive and well, about 2 months so Veg has to pull through. The wombat joey is far too young for us to raise, only a wombat can do that so if Veg dies, so will her joey.

She is in the house at the moment, in the wombat room at the back, still heavily sedated from the operation. The next 10 days will be critical for her. She has to be kept in a sterile environment and we can only hope that no infection gets into the huge wound.

What I find amazing is if a human had their neck slashed down to the muscle, about 20cm long, 10cm wide, there is no way in the world they would be standing and yet this wombat has made it for 3-4 weeks to get back home for help. Can you imagine the pain she would have been in???  So she will be monitored 24/7 now.

Miss G is recovering. Her wounds are healing slowly but she will still  be minus one ear at least. As for the rest of her, her hair will eventually grow back over the scars. She is wanting to go outside for a few hours each day but cannot during the afternoon as she cannot go in the sun but try explaining that to a compulsive stubborn animal that is feeling slightly better!

So, another not so quiet week so far, wondering what the weekend will entail.

A sleep would be good I have to say....

I keep saying it and I'll say it again, what the hell is going on this year with wombats, I have no idea. The attacks have increased tenfold and we are just getting in injured adults one after the other. Miss G is still alive and doing well on her antibiotics. Whoever attacked her went to town. Wombats as amazing as they are, one has to always remember what they are capable of in terms of survival. Only the fittest will survive, the others not.

Have also learnt that Daphne did lose her wombat joey. The last photo we have is of it dead in her pouch. This is very unusual for a wombat as they cannot remove the joeys from their pouches. As the joey was a good size, I have no idea how she managed to get rid of the body but I would say it would explain why she has moved burrows. I'm also guessing the joey died of pneumonia but then again, who knows. Very sad but Daphne is at least looking very good otherwise.

Veg turned up last night. After almost what, 4 weeks? Well, she has a cut in her neck, about 20cm long, 5cm deep, like she has been slashed. I knew something was wrong when we didn't see her at the feed station. She is very week so got picked up, into an enclosure, treated immediately, fed and we have to wait and see. The wound is too old to be stitched but also so big, I'm not sure if she is going to be left with a huge hole in her neck and shoulder.

As beautiful as the spring weather is, it means blow flies and this is a huge problem now with injured wombats as the last thing you need is them getting fly blown. At least the wind has died down and the day looks to be a gorgeous one which is good as there is a lot of work to be done outside today. We have to finish another enclosure, sort the wombat studio out for another injured animal, ensure Veg is okay, treat Miss G as well, oh and throw the shopping in for nappies while we're at it *lol*.

But you know what, I wouldn't change it for the world.