June 18, 2024

No happy ending for this joey

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This story doesn’t end well

 

I was only thinking recently that it's been a couple of weeks since I had to remove a roadkilled animal from the road on the morning walk with Badger the beagle. That changed one day last week when there was a still-alive pademelon mum in the middle of the road, with joey in the pouch.

 

To my great distress there was nothing I could do for mum except ease her to the side of the road and hope to goodness I wasn’t causing her even more pain. But I removed joey from the pouch, wrapped him or her in the woolly scarf I was wearing and walked home cuddling joey close to my heart with one hand, while holding onto Badger and poo bag in the other. It was a juggling act, and needless to say I was about as far from home as I could be on this particular walk.

 

Also needless to say I cried all the way home at the tragedy of it. Yes, insignificant in the horrendous tragedies being played out across the world right now, but the callous loss of life that was so reckless and, perhaps, avoidable, is always tragic. I crossed my fingers crossed the little joey was strong enough to survive. I phoned Bongorong Wildlife Rescue – Tasmania’s centralised contact for all injured wildlife – who were onto it immediately of course.

 

No happy ending

 

Bonorong phoned back while I was having breakfast and asked could I take joey in to the Animal Vet Hospital in the city. I managed to do so before an appointment I had that morning. Joey’s weight had to be confirmed and the photo I’d sent through of joey on my kitchen scales didn’t cut it. The Vet Hospital said he/she was just under the necessary 200g that is the benchmark. Who knew? I suspect it's because there are too few carers for these 'pinkies'. So called as despite having eyes open, ears up, and wriggling vigorously, very few of the joeys that are this young survive. With limited resources they are sacrificed. Sad isn't it. If only that car had been going a little slower. If only . . . .

Another Good Samaritan from our area - also a wildlife carer - spotted pademelon mum and took her into the vet so she could be euthanased. I only learned of this much later. So two wildlife deaths that were quite possibly totally avoidable if that driver had taken heed of the road signs urging people to slow down between dusk and dawn. And decided to leave for work a couple of minutes earlier on darker winter mornings.

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