Tippie
is a Red Neck Wallaby, she was found
after having been run over by a lawnmower, in very long grass.
A woman was moving her lawn, when she
realised
she had run over this very small wallaby, it was not yet furred,
but did have its eyes open. The mover had cut part of her tail
off, but otherwise she didn't seem injured. The lady rushed the
wallaby to the vet, who amputated the damaged part of the tail,
and stitched it up.
One has to ask how did this tiny animal come to be in the long grass
in the first place, when it should have been safely in its mother's
pouch. I can only guess, but one explanation could be the mother
had been asleep in the grass when the mover started, and the Joey
simply fell out of the pouch, in the mother's rush to get away.
When
a wallaby is resting, she will often relax the pouch as well, to
let the Joey stick its head out for a sniff of the air, or nibble
on the grass.When I got the call from the vet, I must admit I didn't
think the little wallaby had much of a chance. The shock in itself
should have been enough to kill it, not to mention the stress of
an operation.
I underestimated the will power of this little animal. She did have
a number of problems whilst she was in care, but she overcame each
and every one of them. It
took
her some time to learn to balance with her short tail, as wallabies
rely strongly on the tail for balance.
Tippie
would fall over when she tried to hop, to scratch herself, she would
loose her balance, but she never gave up.She is now as fast as the
others, a bit smaller, however, she is making up for her lack of
stature by her strength of character.
It has been a privilege and a pleasure to look after this animal,
and she has taught me more than any other I have had in care, just
by her sheer determination to live.
Update:
Tippie
has been released, and as she is very easy to recognize due to
her short tail, we were very happy to spot her in the bush, with
a little joey peering out of her very full pouch.