As
a wildlife carer the reality of helping these animals is not
always the outcome one would hope for, in some instances we
can only alleviate the animals suffering by humanely putting
it down. In other cases we try to make it as comfortable as
possible, make sure they have veterinary treatment and hope
for improvement. In all cases the animals welfare is always
the first consideration.
The
reason for this page is awareness, if it serves to save just
one animal it was worth doing.
What is your dog or cat up to right now ?
Courtesy of Rhianna Blackthorn
What you are seeing here is the result of a dog attack. The entire
stomach and large intestine is prolapsed. The left side of the body was
paralysed in places due to back injury. The left hemipenis was also
prolapsed.
This Blue Tongue Lizard came in to care in this condition, it was very much alive and
active, dragging its stomach around behind it. It would have survived
like this for a very long time suffering in silence, had it not be found.It was humanely euthanased.
What is your dog up to right now?
Is your dog secure at night?
This mountain Brushtail possum was the victim of domestic dogs roaming at night.
It did not die straight away, it died weeks later from infected wounds.
These animals are usually not found when first injured, they hide away out of sight. If a female, her joey will also die, as it will not be able to fend for itself, it will slowly starve to death.
Please ensure your dog is secure from dusk till dawn, this kind of injury can be avoided, it is your responsibility to ensure native wildlife is safe from your domestic pets.
Do you know what your dog is doing at night?
Swimming
Pool Fencing can be fatal
Fencing
around swimming pools is necessary for human safety, unfortunately
for native animals they can be fatal.
This
little swamp wallaby joey died as a result of his mother being
trapped between the bars of the fence. The wallaby had somehow
tried to get between the bars, trapping her, her struggle to
free herself only made matters worse, and she died within an
hour from her injuries.
Her
little joey, not yet having opened his eyes was wrenched out
of the pouch in mums struggle to free herself, injuries sustained
were horrific.
This
is not the first wallaby that have been trapped in pool fencing.
When a wallaby is frightened it will run, taking little notice
of where it runs to or into. Habitat loss as we build in former
native habitat is taking a huge toll on our wildlife.
This
joey and her mum was from Byron Bay, now a popular tourist destination.
Check
before spraying trees
Injuries
such as this can be the result of the simple act of spraying
our fruit or ornamental
trees for pests, or with fertiliser.
Many
native animals hide in our trees during the day, so
please check before spraying, injuries such as this can be avoided.
This
juvenile Mountain Brushtail possum was humanely euthanased,
he had lost his eye sight, and had horrific chemical burns to
parts of his body as well as his face.
Fishing
Litter Deadly for Wildlife
Unfortunately
carers receive a number of calls regarding birds injured by
b
eing
tangled in fishing line. This is rather sad, considering it
is a preventable injury. If you do go fishing, please be responsible
and pick up discarded line from the beach.
This
Tawny frogmouth had a rusty fishing hook embedded in its leg.
The carer was fortunately able to save this bird, seen here
just before having the hook removed from its leg.
Yet
another victim of discarded fishing line. This Magpie did not
fare as well as the Tawny Frogmouth, both of its legs were tied
together and broken due to discarded fishing line, it was humanely
euthanased.
Mountain
Brushtail Treated As Pet Leads to Neglect
This
Mountain Brushtail joey was humanely euthanased after being
brought in
to care. It had been found some time 
before
by a member of the public. As is often the case not knowing
what to feed a native animal or how to house it, will have disastrous
results as in this case.
The
little possum had been fed cows milk, native Australian animals
can not tolerate this long term, it had also not been housed
correct and as a result had stressed so much that it was beyond
saving. How sad for this little one, as it could have survived
had it been brought in to care when first found. Many people
want to keep animals in some cases to educate their children,
unfortunately disasters such as this is usually the result.
If finding a native animal, please call a registered care group
as soon as possible, that way you would not only save the life
of the animal,but at the same time educate your children as
to what is right for the animal long term.
Fatal
Consequences For Relocated Possum
Possums
are often relocated by house owners .Please DO NOT do this without
first seeking advise from National Parks or your nearest wildlife
care organisation.
This
image shows clearly what can happen to a possum removed from
her home, and given no new home to call her own. Her whole family
was trapped and removed and left in the forest close
by, un fortunately no new home was provided. She had had her
teeth ripped out, infection was well 
advanced,
malnourished and numerous wounds covered her body.She was humanely
euthanased.
Possums
are territorial, and can not be relocated even close by without
being provided with a possum box.
Please
call for assistance before attempting a relocation.
Joey
Dies after Mother Hit By Car
This
little Pademelon joey was brought in to care after the mother
was hit by a car and killed, in most cases the joey is fine,
even though it must be like being hit by a train in comparison,
the protection in the pouch is such that they can and do survive
unscathed, not in this case though.
This
little one had broken legs and tail, and it was euthanased as
soon as it was brought in. You may ask was it worth bringing
it in to care? Yes, it was spared going cold in the pouch, it
was spared the prolonged pain, as the motorist stopped, and
checked the pouch. They can survive for days in the pouch. If
you see a dead Marsupial on the road, please stop, check the
pouch if it a female, and remember not only do Possums and Macropod's
have pouches, so do Bandicoots.
At certain times of the year, Echidnas
will also develop a "pouch", it is used to carry the
small baby Echidna, before it develops its quills.
Victim
of Dog Attack
This
Mountain Brushtail possum was brought in after having been attacked
by a dog, as you can see 
the
wounds are extensive, and it is unlikely this animal would have
survived without treatment.This one was lucky, in normal circumstances
a dog attack takes place at night out of sight when the dog
owner is totally unaware of what the dog is up to. It is as
said before the instinct of the dog to hunt, sometimes it may
not even be the fault of the dog, it may just go up to the possum
to say 
hello.But
possums are not friendly to dogs and will react simply because
it is frightened.
This
one was in care for 10 days, it had veterinary treatment and
the wounds were treated daily. It was then released back where
it came from as possums are territorial, an adult MUST go back
to its home territory. The old ways of relocating a possum is
no longer an option, it has been proven that they do not survive
a relocation, as usually there is already a resident possum
in the territory, and it will not tolerate competition.
Shocking
Injuries from Dog Attack
You
never really know what you may find when you are called to rescue
an injured animal, but 
nothing
could have prepared us for this one, it was yet another dog
attack. It had happened some time before the possum was discovered,
and one can only imagine the suffering endured by this animal.
It was somehow still alive, at least we were able to end its
suffering.
We
can only hope that with education and awareness this sort of
incident may in time happen less frequently. We are not asking
people not to have dogs or cats but we do ask on behalf of the
native animals of this country to PLEASE be aware of the injury
our domestic pets can cause. It is unnecessary, all it takes
is to be a responsible pet owner, keep your pet contained specially
at night when our native animals are active.
Think
Before You Chop and Cut
Cleaning
up the yard is something we all do, cutting up that tree that
have become too large, or the 
Coco's
palm that we now realise is possibly not the right thing to
have, as the unripe fruits are 
poisonous
to Flying Foxes, so we do the right thing, and out comes the
chainsaw.
That
is what happened to this unfortunate Ringtail possum.The drey
being the home built by the possum, was in the middle of the
Coco's palm, unfortunately right where the chainsaw cut through.
Possums will not flee the drey when frightened, they will freeze
in fright as did this ringtail and her family. Both male and
female died shortly after the incident, and unfortunately the
2 baby ringtails were too small to be hand reared. Please check
before removing trees and scrubs that no one is calling it home.
Picture
on the right shows a Mountain Brushtail sleeping during the
day, we may not be as lucky as in this picture where we can
actually see the possum, normally you would not know it was
there.
Roaming
Dogs Terrorise Wildlife
This
unfortunate young Mountain Brushtail possum was found sitting
under a tree surrounded by flies. If a possum is on the ground
during daylight hours, you can almost certainly be sure there
is a major problem, as in this case.
It did not take much investigation by David, the property owner,
to realise this animal needed help. When I arrived I was able
to catch it fairly quickly as it was so debilitated it was not
able to put up much of a struggle, how sad to see such a beautiful
little fellow in such a state as this. Nature was kind, and
he died not long after being brought in to care.
It
would not be possible to save this animal as the wounds were
not fresh, and the damage much too great. What happened? I do
not know, but the owner of the property had for some time found
other native animals with wounds similar to this, all had previously
been dead when found. He had seen dogs roaming at night, considering
this is in a National Park, one wonders where did these dogs
come from
Myopathy
A
little known condition that is suffered by Macropod's when highly
stressed called Myopathy is explained in some detail in this
story. Click here to read
Rat and mouse baits, how safe are they?
Let
us not rubbish our wildlife
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