Every day our wildlife come off second best in roadside accidents. Especially as the weather warms up we see wildlife, possums, echidnas, birds and more on the move… at great risk of becoming roadkill.
Vehicle related deaths are common for our marsupials and birds, and animals hit by cars are commonly admitted to our Wildlife Hospital for treatment.
Recently, just as I was pulling out of my driveway to start my day, I found a lovely local who had stopped nearby to pouch check a deceased mother wallaby. She had only recently been hit by a car. I was on my way to work and stopped to help this caring member of the public. We noticed that the mum roo had a joey on board, and it was still very much alive. We bundled up the deceased mum, with bub still in the pouch, into my car and I headed off to the RSPCA.
Once at the Wildlife Hospital, the vet team helped me get the mum and joey out of my car and assessed the joey for injuries. Luckily, this little swamp wallaby had pulled through unscathed! After some rest from a traumatic morning, the little wallaby was straight off to a wildlife carer who could continue to see him grow until ready to be released back into the wild. While I was quite upset his mum had been hit and killed, seeing him able to get a second chance and knowing he’d be back near home very soon to start life over was a lovely feeling… and had no one stopped to check his mum’s pouch, he may not have survived! So thank you to that lovely local resident who stopped to help.
