Wildlife Care

Scenes from a New Year, gently ushered in, composed before the current heatwave and fires across the state painted a different picture, before a state of disaster was declared. Posting this, still, as an archive of how things felt then, and, hopefully, how they'll feel again, soon, with a wish for everyone to stay safe. Because things can change quickly. Here, then, a look at a little furred and inquisitive peace from Tiny but Wild to you.

Step inside the bat enclosure, with the seven pups, on the last day of the year, and rewind. All things Tiny but Wild in 2025, tuning up, ready for wild.

From those in care and since soft released to those still in care and soon to be soft released, and those we knew for but a spell. Here’s to you, Bill, Toffee, Marble, Jean, Oti, Ginni, Constance, Rose, Harry, Manfred, Umi, Hans Holbein the Younger, Dart, Comma, Hans the Tiniest, Walt, Sandy, Nino, Pancake, Fritz, Busby, Anatole, Clark, Gable, Charles, Lady Di, Pickle, Hans Arp, Helena, Harriet, Ed, Bug, Billy Button, Zeus, Bertram, Homer, Albertina, Humphrey, Pomegranate, Pansy, Gilly, Rolly, Ramona Peppercorn, Raisin, June, Fig, Harp C. Chord, Ludwig, Fennel, Chives, Zarek, Tashi, Merlin, Ivo Brown, Petipa Pink, and Flossie Green!

Raisin, a Tawny frogmouth who came into our care in November, has since been returned home, by the river where he/she was first found. In the silver just before dusk, Raisin assumed the position of branch, a returned piece of the puzzle, and it was beautiful to behold. Raisin’s ascent to the canopy was suitably glorious and, as ever in the waiting process, a mixture of the unexpected. He/she found a perfect horizontal nook from which to get their bearings and had we not of known where to look, we’d not have registered their presence.

Thanks to a team of people, Bev and Paul of Bat Rescue Bayside, and the Wildlife Victoria Travelling Vet Service, resplendent Raisin simultaneously left with a little piece of our hearts whilst also filling them. We wish Raisin a long, healthy, wild to the brim life, catching prey, holding steady, and being the very evocation of all that is marvellous.

Since last we saw Raisin, dark plumage had developed atop the crown, and his/her eyes seemed even more like liquid amber. We look forward to walks by the river and wondering where might he/she be and what might he/she be up to. Here’s to you, Raisin! We’re taking a leaf from your book: be more Tawny. Be unflappable, in the best sense.

On New Year’s morning, in the quiet and sparkled beauty, full of promise, we walked past where we had released Raisin. We delighted in the successful reabsorption of Raisin, down by the Birrarung. We couldn’t see Raisin, back in his/her home, but, all the same, we sensed they were doing just fine. On the first walk of the brand new year, a reminder to make space for more moments that restore near everything to harmonious way. Overhead the Grey-headed flying fox colony collectively fanned their wings and stretched. Raisin is home.

In light of the pups destined soon for crèche, it is lovely to pass beneath the enchantment of the colony and think of the Grey-headed flying foxes we currently have in care. Their time with us, these past few months, passes quickly, in one sense, for us, and for them, too, we surmise. One day, these same pups, currently chomping on grapes and sipping from drippers will also be returned puzzle pieces of the brilliant, migratory colony that wends its way from near to far. Over in a blink of an eye, for us, and a bat of the wing, for them.

Harp C. Chord, Fennel, and Ivo Brown have since headed to crèche at Bat Rescue Bayside. A momentous occasion for them, as they transition from being what feels like the equivalent of big grade sixers at primary school to little year sevens on the first day of high school. They were once the largest trio and now they are, by some Alice in Wonderland shape-shifting, the smallest trio in the flight aviary. Such occasions call for slices of peach. Peaches can make the world of difference.

After being sniffed from head to toe tip by the other Grey-headed flying foxes, Harp, Fennel, and Ivo are a part of a new group of pals, and now they can stretch out and prepare to soar. Our nighttime trail cam has yet to record their ‘first flights’, but the cube she does swing with the happy, continued flapping as they have been perfecting their lifts, holding onto the overhead ropes with one foot ever so lightly placed.

Well done, Harp, Fennel, and Ivo! (Pictured below being weighed and measured before they enter the flight aviary, Harp (hot air balloon wrap), Fennel (dinosaurs), and Ivo (blue clouds).)