Miracle Rescue of Orphaned Wallaby Joey
Kilkivan's Matt Costello was on his way to visit wife Natalie in Gympie Hospital when he saw a 6 month old wallaby standing next to his dead mother by the side of Wide Bay Highway. In this case, the wallaby would have been thrown from his mother's pouch by the impact of the car. Sadly this is a common sight but how many people stop to help or even check the pouch?
Unprepared for a wild animal capture, which normally requires great skill and proper equipment, Matt tipped out wife Natalie's personal belongings he had neatly packed in a green shopping bag and managed to catch the injured wallaby in that.
In case you are trying to imagine how on earth he did this, knowing that normally a joey will run away in terror at the sight of a human being leading to the possibility of the joey getting confused and running onto the highway thus becoming another casualty, Anne-Marie told me how Matt caught him. Matt had to chase the little wallaby through the long grass and since Stormboy was too young to be out of pouch and very unsteady on his feet he didn't get far.
But as luck would have it, Matt caught him in the green bag. And just in time too because it was about to pelt down yet he managed to get back in the car right before the onset of torrential rain, along with loud thunder and lightning. Phew!
Matt called the local wildlife carer, Anne-Marie Dineen who informed him that the creek he would have to cross to get to her house was already on the rise.
“Matt passed the little wallaby to me from his car window and made a hasty retreat because he was anxious to get out before the creek rose any higher,” Anne-Marie said. Right away she nicknamed him 'Storm Boy.'
Once safely in the house, the first thing she did was warm the joey as he was shaking with fear and was cold. She found the joey had numerous injuries from the impact of whatever killed his mother (presumably a car or truck) along with cuts, abrasions and a nose fracture. Unable to get out to a vet now the creek was flooding, the experienced animal carer treated him as best she could by giving him regular pain medication then washing and dressing his wounds with disinfectant, and of course, a bottle of substitute mother's milk.
“I'm so pleased with how he's going; he's healed up so quickly. He's got a very good future as many of my releases come back to visit me later on."
She praised Matt for getting the animal to her so quickly.
“If Matt had come along five minutes later he would have been unlikely to have spotted him through the rain and he most definitely would not have survived.”
How did Matt's wife Natalie react? Luck stuck again as she was very forgiving about him being late and the fact that her personal effects arrived hastily dumped in a dingy “bottlo” bag.
“Yeah, I come second to a wallaby,” she chuckled. “That's no worries.”
Some wallabies have angels looking out for them and when the time is right, angels in cars show up in the nick of time to take them to the new home so another angel can be their new mum!
Now Storm Boy has a chance at a new life. He can forge new friendships at her Sanctuary and that is a lot better than what he left behind.
The question is will Storm Boy be as lucky in avoiding dogs, cars and hunters when he is released as an adult?
It's a tough life as a wallaby in Australia. Or any native animal for that fact.
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