People are always ringing me, day and night, with animal problems. Most of these can be dealt with quite easily, but there have been some interesting ones brought on by mistaken identities, or because people’s ideas about sizes are a lot different to mine.
One gentleman rang in a panic one day; he said I have a possum on my front verandah, and I’ve never seen one quite like this….it looks pretty sick, can I bring it round? So of course round he came with the “possum” and presented it to me in a box. It was obviously on its last legs, and I said I would do what I could for it, and took it from him. He went home, feeling relieved. On closer inspection, it was a “bush” rat, a native animal, and prettier than the “normal” rat, but a rat nonetheless, and before I was able to find someone who would look after it, it went to “rat” heaven.
Another time, someone rang with a problem with a baby snake. Please could someone come and rescue them from the snake! So I located the snake handler, and off he went. He arrived at the place, and the people met him at the door with cries of in here, in here! He went into the room he was directed to, and there on the floor was a leech. I didn’t ask him what he did with it……but both he and I wondered greatly at what those people were on at the time.
A lady called at my house and presented me with a tiny bundle. As she unwrapped it carefully she said I think this is a wombat, and it’s much too small to be away from its mother. Judging from the size of the bundle, I was inclined to agree. On closer inspection, the tiny wombat was actually a tiny rabbit kitten, which was also too small to be away from its mother. I was able to redirect her to another lady who would look after it for her.
People often have trouble with judging sizes of animals as well. Several times I have been called out on the rescue of a joey kangaroo, and found it to be a fully grown adult wallaby, which has just fitted onto the back seat of the car. Another time I was called to a “baby” wombat. It had been hit by a car, and the caller met me at the front door with this huge wombat that he had somehow managed to fit into a fruit box. It must have weighed over 20 pounds. The poor thing appeared to have lost the use of its back legs, so I took it straight to the “wombat lady” for her to deal with.
Another thing that can happen is putting the animal in inappropriate housing. I’ve had this happen to me a couple of times with parrots and cockatoos. Instead of putting the injured bird in a box, they put them in a cage. Sometimes they manage to put them in an appropriate size cage, but the opening is terribly small. Easy enough to put the bird in, but very hard to get a non co-operating injured bird out so you can examine it, or transfer it to a box….. Another carer had the same experience with a wedgetailed eagle that had been put in a cocky cage. The wedgetails have a wing span of around 10 feet, so they are a rather large bird. This eagle was not coming out without a fight, so the easiest way to get him out was to dismantle the cage!
So you can see, when people tell me what they have, and what size it is….I don’t always believe them…..I prefer to be prepared for anything…..
Mamaroo's Diary 