Tiny November
Wildlife Care
We check and weigh the ringtail joeys. With Pansy now weighing just over 200 grams, the quartet can graduate to their larger outdoor enclosure. A momentous occasion for Pansy, Humphrey, Homer, and Albertina!
Sadly, Pansy’s little buddy Pomegranate died a few weeks ago. Her little body, when she was separated from her mum, was too underdeveloped. Pomegranate and Pansy, that near inseparable pair of ‘flatties’, had come into care each weighing only 57 grams. (This last photo, shared here, was taken by the vets when the joeys came into care, and the two littlest were ‘discovered’ in the drey of five.)
Recent Wildlife Victoria rescues have included Ramona Peppercorn, a beautiful Gould’s wattled bat, found on Peppercorn Lawn, by Hamer Hall, and named by the family who found her, and ensured her safety; an adult ringtail possum Wildlife Victoria rescue, who was badly injured and needed to be taken straight to the nearby vets; and a late afternoon rescue of an injured adult ringtail possum, exposed in a laneway. Drenched to her core, she made for the sorriest sight. At first glance, we thought she’d already died. Her form appeared lifeless, but she gave a tiny shrug when gently touched. Her bedraggled body slumped into relief as we scooped her up and popped her into a warm pouch. We took her straight to the nearest 24-hour vet so she could be out of pain.
If you see injured wildlife, like an immobilised ringtail in a laneway, always call your nearest wildlife rescue or shelter, and consider covering them with a cardboard box or similar, to help keep them safe and dry, and to feel protected from predators, if you can. Being arboreal, this vulnerable position would have been scary for this possum.
If you can, you can stay with the possum, or take them to the nearest vet, if you feel comfortable.
@wildlifevictoria:
As possums are nocturnal, it is not a good sign to see them out during the day, and it often indicates something is wrong. If you see a possum on the ground, please call our 24/7 Emergency Response Service on (03) 8400 7300 for advice. We will most likely ask you to contain the possum using a towel and box and to take it to your nearest veterinary clinic for free treatment. We can also provide further assistance as needed.
(The black and white picture of a ringtail possum, below, is from Walkabout magazine: original photographs and associated records, 1934–1974, State Library of NSW digital archives.)
And a reminder to look up. Should you see a Grey-headed flying fox on a power-line, always call the case into your nearest wildlife rescue. At this time of year, in particular, there may be a pup on board, who, more than likely, paws crossed, may be alive/unharmed.
After checking on such cases, walks by the Birrarung prove a required tonic. The Yarra Bend flying fox colony is a bright bustle with Grey-headed flying fox mums gently fanning and tending to their pups.
We’ve not looked after a Tawny frogmouth fledgling before, and we sure are smitten with this “all is in flux”, full of expression ‘floof’ with the ancient, ‘all seeing’ eyes. Each morning when we check on her, she seems to have grown in size, and popping her on the scales, she has indeed grown in size, transforming before our very eyes. Soft white down is giving way to darker, speckled feathers, and altering her form. Overnight, tail feathers have started to come through. For the duration of her stay with us, we’ve called her Raisin, and raising Raisin, so far, is proving an awesome experience, in the truest sense, for we are filled with awe at how she develops, calls, and simply exists. She is soft to the touch, and is beginning to flap her wings. And when she does, little white wisps of her float in the air. She is a curious mix of fragility and strength, slumbering in her makeshift nest until she is ready to graduate to an outdoor aviary.
“Nothing retains its original form, but Nature, the goddess of all renewal, keeps altering one shape into another.”
And so to close. Rewind! Pictured here, from being weighed to her rescue, wrapped in a black shirt and placed beneath a tree by the MoP (member of the public who called the case in to Wildlife Victoria).
As ever, please note: you need to be a qualified, vaccinated carer to handle megabats and microbats.
Please note, every attempt was made to find her parents so they could be reunited, but, sadly, they could not be found. We are also guessing that she is a female, and Raisin may turn out to be male.
Image credit: Folio 28: Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) with a caterpillar from Master of Claude de France’s (active from ca.1508–1520) Book of Flower Studies, ca. 1510–1515.
“The Book of Flower Studies belongs to what is often dubbed "the last flowering" of northern European manuscript illumination in the medieval tradition. Illuminators working at Tours brought the garden inside to enrich the pages of princely manuscripts. The pages of this book unquestionably provided the models for renderings in several celebrated commissions linked to Claude, Queen of France and to Antoine de la Barre, a prominent ecclesiastic who became Archbishop of Tours.
These flowers were painted in witness to their inherent beauty, not gathered merely for their symbolism, nor for their perceived medicinal value. Each of them can be found in the gardens of The Met Cloisters.”
— The MET
