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Meet
Sassy, a new edition to our macropod family.
Sassy
is a Common Wallaroo, similar in appearance to an Eastern Grey
Kangaroo (to the inexperienced macropod "watcher") but
with a shaggier and denser coat and a bulkier, heavier set body.
Miss
Sas came to us to ready her for release back into the wild. She
had spent quite a few months with another wildlife carer who lived
in town. At first she was pretty pee'd off because she was quite
settled with her other "family" and didn't much like me or Todd.
Her
name is indicative of her nature - quite a tempestuous little
thing. In the early days she would often give us a belting and
her nips were quite sharp. As she settled in though, her boxing
turned into a sport and the bites weren't nearly so aggressive
- and my bruises weren't nearly so black!
Thankfully,
it didn't take too long for her to settle down. She made good
friends with Maddy and Marshall
- Swamp Wallabies, Google, Floss,
Lilly and Rustle - Eastern Grey Kangaroos. Being part of a mob
(albeit an assorted mob!), helped her recognise that she was indeed
not human!
You
see, when Sassy came to us she was quite humanised, after living
in a house with children and domestic animals.
She
was accustomed to sleeping with the family and, so I was told,
was often found curled up on one of the beds. She was used to
having the pet cat and small dog as play companions.
It's
impossible to expect a native animal that has been raised by humans
not to be touched by humanisation in some way. The orphans are
not raised in a natural environment so it's not realistic to think
that they will not be effected. However, there are different degrees
of humanisation - at the good end you'd have an animal that is
not necessarily frightened of its original carer, their human
"mum or dad" but is wary of all strangers, human and
animal alike. At the bad end you'd find an animal that is frightened
of no-one and nothing. Sassy craved our attention and wouldn't
accept she was a wallaroo, and she also "talked" with
any of our visitors - I'd say she was somewhere closer to the
very humanised end of the spectrum. She'd be a tough challenge,
but do-able.
It
took us many many months to convince Sassy she was a Wallaroo
and not a "humaroo" or "wallaruman"! At first
she didn't particularly like the outdoors and would constantly
disappear in the house. On many occasion we found her curled up
in one of our pappasan chairs or on the lounge chair or lying,
quite contentedly, in the bedroom.
A
habit we found hard to break.
Turning
her back into a wild wallaroo was proving to be quite a challenge.
"Dehumanizing"
a native animal that has been raised by humans varies from animal
to animal. Some take a few months, others take several months
- even years. To dehumanise an animal is to make it aware of its
own species, to ensure that it can forage for its own food without
"human parent" support and that it is frightened of
strangers.
With
Sassy it was an incredibly slow process. Moving her from the house
to the yard was difficult and at times stressful for both her
and us. However we tried to accommodate her need to be near us
and her love of the creature comforts for as long as we could.
For
the first month or so we moved Sassy outside during the day but
allowed her to come inside of a night time. Some of that time
would be spent with us, giving her the cuddles she craved, but
she would be confined to the laundry - water and grass in abundance
- when we retired to bed.
To
make the transition easier for her we gave her her own pillow
- the red one that she found on the pappasan chair was claimed!
It had her scent on it and it gave her comfort when we wouldn't
allow her access to the rest of the house.
During
her time outside, the pillow went with her. The scary big wide
world wasn't nearly so bad with her pillow close by!
Slowly
but surely Sassy gained confidence in the outdoors. We removed
her pillow for longer periods and were rewarded by seeing her
lying in a dirt patch that had been created by the other macropods.
Some weeks later we opened up the back house yard increasing the
size of the area to about one acre. She, and the other macropods
in care, took the change quite well.
With
her new found confidence we moved her outside permanently, but
returned her pillow to her which was left on the verandah for
her when things got a little too scary, but she was using it less
and less.
Her
return to the wild was finally looking promising. She started
spending more and more time in the yard with the other macropods
and needed our company less often.
Unfortunately
though we experienced a set back when Todd and I took a week off
and went away for a short holiday. During our absence we arranged
for other wildlife carers to come to our property to feed and
check on the macropods. I'm not sure if it was a particular event,
or multiple carers having contact with the animals, but Sassy
and Maddy were quite stressed when we returned.
Having
a release site puts a fair amount of burden on a volunteer wildlife
carer. In town carers usually hold animals that are quite small,
usually still in pouch. If needed, the animal can be moved to
another carer for babysitting. Obviously at a release site the
animals in care can vary from tiny to juveniles ready for release.
When we go away it isn't possible to move a bigger animal elsewhere,
this would cause much stress to the animal and would certainly
put a set back in the release process.
During
this getaway our wonderful babysitter, Murray,
couldn't care for the animals so I had to organise for different
carers to come on different days - not the best situation for
a native animal, but I had no other choice. I'm a volunteer but
I still need a break once in a while and because I live out of
town I couldn't get one carer to make the trip every day, that
simply isn't a reasonable request.
When
we returned Sassy was again craving our company and
she literally tried running through the sliding door to get to
us. Although she was really too big to be back in the house again,
we succumbed to her perseverance and allowed her time inside.
I preferred her release be put back a month or so and have her
with us where she was content than risk her damaging herself in
the effort to reach us. She had already taken a patch of fur and
skin off her nose in her stubborn attempt to be with us.
On
the other extreme Maddy didn't want a bar of us when we returned.
She was quite highly strung and darted away from us when ever
we tried to approach her. The day after we returned we encouraged
her over with a cashew nut (her favourite!) and checked her over.
No physical damage thankfully, just the absolute desire to be
free!
A
few days after our return we opened up the back paddock which
increased the size from one acre to five. We left the house yard
open for them for a while so that they could freely come and go
and be near us if they felt insecure for any reason.
About
one month later we closed the gate to the house yard but continued
to visit the macropods daily in the paddock. Sassy was again non
too impressed and literally tried barging through the fence. The
gate was opened again and Sassy would visit us every other day.
Eventually things started looking better again when she spent
more and more time at the bottom end of the paddock with the other
macropods.
One
particular night I remember well. We were in the middle of a chaotic
storm - massive bolts of lightening followed by the immediate
and loud clap of thunder. The storm was too furious for us to
venture out so it wasn't until morning when all was quite that
we went in search of the macropods to see how they had weathered
the storm.
Many
animals hate storms, particularly strong wind, as they cannot
hear approaching danger and macropods are no exception. Their
huge radar ears, which normally pick up sounds humans can't hear,
are rendered quiet useless in windy weather. The storm we had
endured the previous night would have put the macropods into panic
mode and as a consequence when we went to check, Sassy was no
where to be seen.
Todd
and
I started searching for her in the paddock. Nothing! We then went
out into to the main farm paddock and surrounding bush and called
her name. Out of the bush came a grey bolt of lightening, and
headed straight for Todds open arms! She clucked and chattered
to us and I'm sure she was telling us of her ordeal! Luckily she
received no injuries from the jump over the fence (the only way
we figured she could have gotten out), but she was quite agitated
so we brought her inside for a water cracker treat!
Thankfully
the storm didn't cause too much of a set back - we'd had too many
of them with Sassy already! She was returned to the paddock and
the next stage of her release process went well.
Finally
the gate to the big wide world was opened and the macropods had
access to all areas of the farm. The Eastern Greys we had in care
were the first to go, Sassy took a lot longer. Although all of
the macropods continued to be support fed they gradually got further
away and preferred each others company to ours. To this day, some
eight months later, we still have the immense pleasure of seeing
them out in the paddocks and occasionally they come home for a
visit and for treats and a scratch under the chin.
As
time wore on they became less trustful of humans to the point
where they would even run from us if we went to close to them
in the paddock. Around the house yard is the only place where
we have the opportunity for those very special reunions.
And
the good news? Sassy has a small joey in her pouch! From the size
of the lump we assume it is still a pinkie, ears up and eyes open,
around 3-4 months old. We are looking forward to the day when
we see Sassy streaking through the paddock with a small joey keeping
pace.
Raising
orphaned native animals is never easy. There are hurdles along
the path, illness and diseases to combat and unwilling animals
to "dehumanise". As shown is Sassy's story it can sometimes
take a lot longer to get some animals "back to bush"
but it is certainly worth it in the end! I've said it before and
I'll say it again - seeing a native animal that I have raised
or rehabilitated return to the wild is one of the most awesome
feelings I will ever experience.
The
new generation
We
have recently had the immense pleasure of seeing Sassy's joey
who is now at heal - it's a boy!!
We've
named him Voomp, cos that's the sound he makes as he follows closely
at his mums heals when they streak through the bush. And what
a wonderful sight - what proud grandparents we are!
There
is a big old male Wallaroo that lives on our property, and we
call him Sox because of his really black paws and feet. We think
Sox is Voomps daddy as Voomp also has the black paws that really
stand out from his dark grey coat. He's going to grow into a very
handsome man!
And
so, we did it! What a spectacular success story. Not only has
Sassy returned to the bush, she has socialised, bred, and is an
amazing mum. How proud am I!!
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