Tuesday 28 August 2012

Miss G is back......

Just when you think you have seen it all......Yesterday morning, I did the normal rounds of the enclosures and for some reason, went down to Tug's enclosure as he was banging (he should have been asleep). In the corner of his enclosure was a shivering, bloodied wombat. Tug was trying desperately to get away. It was darling Miss G. Somebody out there has attacked her so so badly. There is not a part of her body that has not been bitten. Sometimes I dislike wombats for what they do to each other, cannot help it BUT it is the nature of the animal and of course, only the strong survive. I just find it amazing that she jumped INTO an enclosure to get away from whoever was attacking her.

Will she pull through? I do not know. Will have to wait and see but it has broken whatever spirit she had for now. I cannot explain what the hell is going on with the wombats right now. I do not think it was the resident male who did this to her. I think there is a rouge male around the place as all the wombats at the feeding station are so jittery. They bolt like anything if they hear a sound, as if they are scared of who the sound is coming from. Normally when they are within their territories they have a certain amount of confidence. Not of late. The females with joeys have disappeared as well. So I'm thinking that is the reason for Miss G being attacked so badly, or the fact that she is seen as 'weak'.

No sign of Barney again either. After a good dose of rain his burrow is flooded so not sure where he has moved to. I did find 2 new burrows close to the house yesterday but am not sure who is in them as yet.

And just for the record. Looking after numerous wombats and working full time IS easier than raising a toddler! :)

Wednesday 15 August 2012

What do?

So, what do toddlers, german shepherd puppies and wombats have in common? They ALL take plants out of pots. After managing to save my plants from the odd wombat that visits on the deck and the dogs, they now have to fend off a toddler. Alas, if they survive this, they are the strongest pot plants I know of:). The dogs got an ear lashing of 'don't do this', and then for me only to later in the afternoon come across one toddler pulling out the plants I had so delicately re potted earlier in the day! This was then of course followed by a tantrum as she was told to leave it. Remind me why we have children? Its certainly not for the peace and quiet, that I can tell you:).

I have no idea of what is going on with the wombats, maybe they know spring is on the way and warmer weather, who knows but their habits have changed drastically over the last week or two. We only see Boney Bum every night, still no Veg and Daphne comes every few nights. I think I have figured out where Barney has gone (or the burrow should I say).  Its strange that so suddenly, their routines have changed and we are talking creatures of habit here. Like I said, maybe they know spring is on the way as it certainly feels like it today. Nights are still very cold though. My first thought is oh no, snakes will be coming out soon. That is one brilliant thing about winter, no snakes to watch out for. In a few weeks, every stick will be a potential threat when walking:).

Friday 10 August 2012

!!!!!

So Barney has left again. We took him up to an enclosure after his course of antibiotics and he is not yet better but he has escaped so I hope he stays away from trouble for a while. At least he has been fed up for a few nights and regained some strength but somehow I think we are going to see him again, in the same state, if not worse. There are some wombats that just don't cope or who aren't aggressive enough. Sadly you only find them when its injured or dead mostly but we will remain positive and think that he has learnt his lesson again.

Trying to get up to do work in the enclosure area with a new baby and toddler is challenging to say the least. And when the two dogs come with, oh boy, I just about give up. Indy is starting to show signs of intelligence *lol* at almost 9 months. She is stubborn though but is coming along with her training. Bella is just gorgeous, she is 21 months old now and truly an amazing dog. I'm hoping Indy will learn from her. Still no Vegemite at the feed station. Its been more than a week now and I don't have a good feeling about her not coming. She has ALWAYS come every night. We are going for a walk this evening to check burrows and the creek, maybe we will see something.

Tuesday 7 August 2012

Update

So, the enclosures are not even getting a day's rest right now with the amount of animals coming in. Not sure what is going on this year but so many attacked/injured adults. Not many baby wombats coming in, which is of course good but with the adults, not sure. The enclosure area is chockers again, full house. The new enclosure going up already has an occupant waiting to come here and more on the waiting list.

Barney - he has had one bad experience out there in the wild. He is showing some very odd behaviour. We did move him from the studio last night up to an enclosure so hopefully he will now start to regain his confidence. He has finished his course of antibiotics and his wounds are looking a lot better. Boney Bum continues to cause havoc at night and patrol the enclosure and house site area. Veg hasn't been for at least 4 nights which is VERY odd as she is always the first at the feeding station. We are going to check her burrow tonight as normally she is a late riser and you can find her lying close to the entrance as the sun goes down and it becomes dark. She is pregnant so not sure if her change of habits are due to this. Still waiting for Daphne to arrive with her wombat joey at some point which would be at foot.

Thank heavens for the night webcam as it means we can get some sleep while everybody does there thing at night:).

Wednesday 1 August 2012

Barney is back!!!

Yesterday, driving into the property, around noon I came across a wombat at the causeway, not looking too good and as the number one rule for me is - if its out during the day, there is most likely something wrong. Yes, something was definitely wrong. It has a few severe attack injuries which are fly blown even in the cold weather, limping so not running fast at all and severely underweight. So........you do what you do at Sleepy Burrows, catch it. That didn't take too long or much effort which gives me an indication of the state of the animal.

The wombat has turned out to be Barney who went AWOL around January this year if I recall. He is not in a good way and has obviously been struggling out there a bit. Somebody has also gotten hold of him and done some serious damage. He got his antibiotics and is in the studio. He ate copious amounts of food initially and has then slept for over 24 hours solid now. I have just checked on him and still sound asleep BUT has done his business where he sleeps.

This is very unusual for wombats as they are very clean animals. This indicates to me that he is either too sick to get up or was being attacked and bullied so much that he only came out during the day to feed. Not sure which one but the next few days will tell. For now, he is resting and can sleep safely.