Tonka is thriving in care! He continues to gain weight and his is becoming more confident every day. He now weighs nearly three kilos! He drinks four bottle a day and no longer requires a feed in the middle of the night! Getting up isn’t easy! Tonka still lives in a pouch. If Tonka was living in the wild he would still be living in his mum’s pouch and venturing out to play around her while she rested in the burrow. Tonka’s confidence is growing and he regularly comes out of the pouch to play! Playtime! Playtime is vital for development! Not only does it help Tonka develop strength but teach ..read more

Naturally like all the other wombats in my care (see my previous posts) Tonka had to have his own movie! But like all divas, Tonka gets ready for action at his own pace! You can’t hurry an actor! Too tired! Slow motion yawn!Tonka’s movie. Movie mad using Imovie. Stay tuned for more Tonka news! You can follow me on Instagram wombats_and_wildlife_heljan09. If you find any injured wildlife, please contact your local wildlife group. It’s against the law to keep any wildlife for longer than 48 hours in the ACT unless you are a licensed wildlife carer. Even 48 hours is too long – a joey kept for ..read more

My love of snakes started when I was employed at the wildlife clinic. A Red Belly Black snake was brought into the clinic with its head stuck in a soda can. The can was gently removed from the snake and then we let the snake slither away. The movement of a snake can be mesmerizing to watch! Red Belly Black snakes and Eastern Brown snakes live along the east coast of Australia. Canberra is known as the Bush Capital so Eastern Browns are very common. I live across the road from open grasslands so I often see Eastern Brown snakes when I go for walks around the grasslands. Wearing long trousers a ..read more

Tonka arrived in care at four months of age, weighing just over 800 grams after his mum was hit by a car. Luckily he didn’t suffer any injuries himself. Tonka is fed a specialised milk formula five times a day. Tonka took quickly to his bottle and devours every feed! Bottle time! Still sucking even when the bottle is finished! I am sharing care of Tonka with another carer. Although we generally limit passing animals in care around, sharing care of a joey takes into account our other commitments. Our shared care is almost identical – same bedding, same set up, same equipment and we both hav ..read more

Australia has the only two monotremes in the world. A monotreme is a mammal that lays an egg. The two types of monotremes are the echidna and the platypus. I’ve never had a platypus in care – but I have had a few echidnas, see my earlier posts. The baby echidna is called a puggle. A puggle this size would never been seen. It was found wandering because we presume it’s burrow washed out with the rain because normally it would just stay there waiting for mum to return. It was such a privilege meeting this one! Once pregnant, the female echidna moves the egg into a temporary pouch that she creat ..read more

After failing to release Natalie the first time, I called on a few swans to help me! Actually I called on another wildlife carer who had two swans in care. I needed some swans to show Natalie that she’s not ‘just like me’, but is rather, just like them! We always try to pair up animals of the same species so they identify with their own species rather than identifying with their carer. Pairing animals together helps them learn from each other – they learn the natural behaviors that carers can’t teach! However it depends when animals arrive into care and their stage of development and which car ..read more

Natalie is over four months old. At this stage of development, young swans are ready to leave their parents and go their own way. Natalie demonstrated all the necessary survival skills – seeking water if concerned (for safety), finding food and long run offs to practise her flying! The time came to release Natalie! Release is always an exciting time – a little stressful and a little sad. So many mixed emotions. Since Natalie is so large and I needed to protect her wings, I decided that instead of placing her in a crate I would carry her securely – not something I’d attempt with a wild swan, b ..read more

Many cygnets (baby swans) come into care. This story is about Natalie ~ who was named after Natalie Portman, from the film The Black Swan! Natalie was handed into a vet clinic by a member of the public. The member of the public told the vet that Natalie was found alone by the side of the road. Finding a cygnet alone, near a road is unusual since swans are dedicated and fierce protectors of their young. The vet contacted me and I took Natalie into care. Many people who find wildlife believe that they can raise the animals themselves. They don’t realize that it’s against the law in Canberra to ..read more

Most people I meet love wildlife. They are fascinated by stories of cute wombat and possum joeys. But as soon as I talk about birds, people are turned off. Birds in care are lovely! Especially our Crimson (my favorite) and Eastern rosellas. Rosellas are native to Australia. They nest in hollows in trees and are found visiting most Australian gardens. They are really delightful birds. Crimson rosellas Each year dozens and dozens of baby rosellas come into care. Discovered after storms, ‘fallen’ from nests, attacked by predators or bird napped. Sometimes the birds arrive in care in groups, other ..read more

This is the story of Merlin, a wombat escapee! Merlin was due for release (weighing around 23 kilos) but instead of waiting for a suitable release site, he burrowed out of his enclosure, out of the garden and escaped around Mt Ainslie, one of the reserves in Canberra. Although technically ‘in the wild’, escaping into the suburbs is not the outcome wildlife carers work so hard to achieve! The suburb and surrounding reserve is busy – populated with dogs, cars and people! Since there are no burrows (or other wombats) he could even be burrowing under someone’s house. So naturally we called in help ..read more