It’s early Sunday morning and we are out for a walk in nearby bushland. Stephen spots something moving low in the bush, he thinks it is a plastic bag caught on some ferns, but then realises it is a pair of ears. Off he goes to discover what it is. I finally catch up and its a joey, shivering and cold with no mother in sight. What do we do? First thing Stephen does is pick the joey up and get it warm. Then he hands him over to me and goes off to search for the mother. I have a nice snuggle while he is gone. Stephen returns empty handed and we decide to take the Joey home and see what we can do.
When we get home, we check him all over and he seems malnourished but otherwise ok. We wonder how long he had been out in the bush by himself and how long would he have survived on his own? He is still cold so we heated up a wheat bag and made him a pouch. But he had other ideas, one second he was in the pouch and the next he had climbed in through the top of my jacket and landed on my chest. He was in before I even realised what was happening. It was bliss.
A quick call and a wildlife carer arrived to take care of him. He will be looked after locally for a while and then moved to a kangaroo specialist to be buddied with another kangaroo. Eventually released back into the wild together. Its sad to see him go, but the best outcome for him.
So the debate is what species is he? Locally we have Eastern Grey Kangaroos, Swamp Wallabies and Wallaroos. Our best guess is a Wallaroo based on jaw shape, feet and where we found him.
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