The last couple of weeks have been emotionally draining, as I had to play the organ for several funerals. One funeral was for a young man of 39, who was killed in an industrial accident (he went to school with my kids) and another was for a lady only a few years older than me, with whom I had worked. Two funerals were for Tuesday and Wednesday just past. I had also been asked to help cook for the afternoon teas afterwards, and I had music lessons to give afterwards as well. So things were a bit hectic.
On the Monday afternoon before the funerals, I got a phone call from the daughter in law of the lady being buried on Tuesday. She wanted to give me the list of hymns the family wanted played at the funeral, and she wanted to know could I also babysit her two little roos, Peter Pan and Wendy. She is also a carer in our wild life group. Straight after the funeral, she and her husband had to head off for a medical appointment, and probably wouldn’t be home for about 24 hours. Her mother normally helped out, but she would be away as well. Could I help out?
I had recently seen this little pair when she first got them. She’s a fairly new carer, and wanted some pointers. They were a pair of eastern grey kangaroos, one male, one female, still very much in their pouches, and needing 3 or 4 bottles a day. They would eat grass, as long as they were left in their pouches. Of course I said yes; I reckoned I could cope with them, because their feed times wouldn’t clash with the funerals, and it would only be for a day.
They arrived at the appointed hour; two of them in one large pouch. They gave each other tremendous support, and if you had both out of the pouch at once, they would cling to each other. The female was smaller, and very dainty and fine boned. The male was larger, and a bit of a bruiser. I didn’t think I’d want to meet him when he was fully grown. I hung the pouch on a wardrobe door, and left them alone till their next feed was due, which was after the funeral, and after music lessons. They were lovely and snug in their pouch, it was almost a shame to disturb them. It took me a little while how to organise things, because when you woke one, they both woke, and both wanted to be fed….NOW! However I soon worked out that I fed the boy first; he was a wriggler and a bit rambunctious. The girl was well behaved by comparison. Both fed well once I got them started, and both were STARVED for that first feed. Before bed, they were fed again, and I thought, I’ll get them outside in the morning for a bit of sun, and a munch on some grass.
Got up in the morning…and saw the world in a whole new light…the dust storm had arrived. It was also blowing furiously, and quite unpleasant outside. I decided the planned trip outside would be much too stressful for them, and their “mother” may not appreciate red joeys. They had of course wet some of their pouch liners, and I decided I’d better not put them on the line either…putting them out in a dust storm defeated the purpose of washing them somewhat. So I did the washing, and put it all in a plastic bag for dealing with later and the joeys went back to bed in their oversized pouch. They didn’t seem too upset with the arrangement…after all they got their bottles on time, and tummies were nicely filled. All was well with their world! Several times while changing pouches I had them out on the floor. It was a bit of a helter-skelter, with joeys trying to climb my leg, or make a break for it and leap through the house. As you can imagine Max was not amused, and Gypsy was rather startled…these little creatures were much taller than her, when they stood up straight. However we all survived, and eventually they went home to their place. I dare say they’ll be back at some stage for babysitting if necessary.
Gypsy and Max found Wednesday a bit of a trial. First there was those pesky roos, and there was also all that dust! Max lost all interest in going outside and Gypsy set a new land speed record any time she HAD to go outside. In fact a couple of times I had to remind her that she needed to go…..
Mamaroo's Diary 