Merry Xmas from us all at Bayview Bush Babies!

Phoebe’s Wish List

Hi everyone, Rastus, Alice and I are all happy and getting bigger bellies by the day! 

I thought you might like to know about my wish for all my fellow native animals in and around Swansea.

I know we run out in front of your vehicles when we think we can make it  across the road to eat juicy
grass or drink some fresh water and sometimes you can do nothing but hit us.  I thought I would give you some of my tips to help you save us and give us a second chance at life.

My mum and dad have recently purchased an Ultrasonic animal alert from Canada under the brand name of “Hobi”.  They work on cars, vans, trucks and motorcycles and we hear the ultrasonic sound up to 400 metres away at speeds as low as 30kph. The sound they give out are too high for humans or any animals travelling inside the vehicle but warns 99% of us to stay still or stay in the bush.  Excellent for saving on insurance premiums.  They can be purchased at anyWilderness Society store at $24.95.  We have been testing them at night for the past 6 weeks and have had only a sighting of a wallaby at a safe distance from us crossing the road, the rest just stop and listen or stay in the bush. A heavily pregnant wombat was also attempting to get across one night before we got there.  So this one does work, unlike the cheaper ones around that definitely do not appear to make any difference at all.

If you should come across a recently killed female native animal (up to 48 hours) check their pouches for a joey.  Even a pinky (a joey with very little or no fur) may survive.  Wallabies and kangaroos have front facing pouches and wombats rear facing pouches. 

If you are lucky enough to find an orphan, the first 24 hours are critical for survival.  It is important that they are kept warm (28 degrees if poss.)  So wrap us up in whatever you have straight away, put us up your jumper to keep us in contact with your warmth and keep us in a quiet place. 

It is important that pets and children are kept away from us as we need to be kept really quiet and warm so the shock is not too severe as this is the biggest killer.  We always feed a mixture of 3 tsp sugar dissolved in 180mls warm water and fed through a needless syringe.  Only give us a maximum of 10% of our body weight to minimise the onset of shock.

NEVER FEED US NORMAL MILK AS THIS WILL KILL US AND ALL YOUR KINDNESS WILL BE TO WASTED.

Then pass the joey onto an experienced wildlife carer as soon as possible to ensure we have the best chance of survival.  Do not try to raise us yourself unless you have expert advice on tap from an experienced carer otherwise we may die.

There are a few native animals that require a permit from the Native Wildlife Branch, D.P.I.W.E.  These are wombats, Eastern Grey Kangaroos,Eagles,Echnidas to name of few.  This means that by law you cannot keep these animals unless you are a registered, qualified wildlife carer for the Native Wildlife Branch.  The reason is that these are fewer in number and require specialised care.  Also in the past they have been kept as pets by members of the public to the detriment of the animal as they should be free and released back into the wild not sitting on a couch watching television.If there is anyone out there who loves knitting and has scraps of wool that they do not know what to do with or polar fleece we would be grateful for some nice warm pouches as we are always in need of more.  If you contact my mum she would be so grateful for them and will tell you how big they would need to be.

Please do not forget that for the next 8 weeks or more female native animals will not be as fast getting across the road as their joeys that they have had for months will be heavy and
this is the time when we will have a lot more deaths so please slow down and look for orphaned joeys.

We hope you all have a wonderful xmas and that it is safe and happy for you and your family.

 

 

We always appreciate donations towards our care.  To donate please just press on the link below, it will direct you to a secure site where you can pay via direct debit or credit card.  Thanks heaps as it really does go to us and helps us all get bigger bellies.

 

Lots of Love Phoebe xxx

 

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=LU8B76L6LH9K4

 

 

 

 

 

 

Phoebe’s family

Hi everyone!  I want to tell you about my new brother Rastus, and sister Alice. Rastus weighs over 16kg, is about 28 months old and has been with my new mum and dad for 2 years. From now on he is ready to go back into the bush to live and find
himself a lady friend.  He did take himself into the bush for 6 days, my mum and dad really missed him but were really happy that he was doing what they had raised him to do – be free and a real wombat in the wild.  He came back unexpectedly 6 days later, exhausted.  He slept solidly for 1 ½ days.  He did not think he was ready to go yet and now he goes out every night and comes back to bed every morning.

Alice is about 15 months old and has been with my new family for 12 months. She and Rastus love each other as they have become buddies since growing up together even though there is an age difference.

Alice and Rastus, eat grass together, play outside and sleep together, cuddling and
snuggling up together.  Rastus is very protective of Aliceand looks after her when they are out together during the day.

 

My new mum thinks Rastus will go back into the bush when Alice is old enough to be his breeding partner unless he meets another lady wombat before then.  Rastus and Alice do not drink milk now but love native grasses and mum gives them carrots which they love. (It is safe to feed them carrots here because we are far enough away from tree plantations that
throw out 1080 poisoned carrots to kill all native wildlife).

 

Ihave met Alice and we gave each other a little kiss.  My mum does not leave me alone with Rastus and Alice as they may be jealous of me taking my new mum away from them and accidentally hurt me.

 

If Rastus goes back into the bush without Alice, I reckon her and I will be great buddies just like her and Rastus are.

 

We are truly a part of the family here, we are not caged but live inside in a huge
bucket filled with warm, woolly blankets.  We will decide when it is time for us to go back into the bush to live with our mum and dad’s blessing.  So until then we have a happy, loving home.  How lucky we are to have been given a second chance.

 

Over the next couple of months we will get more orphaned wallabies because their
mum’s forget that their joeys are heavy now as they have grown bigger and get
hit with cars as they cannot run across the road fast enough. We all wish this
did not happen but they too will be welcomed into our happy little home.

To donate to Bayview Bush Babies causes

Hi if you would like to donate to Bayview Bush Babies to:-
 *Help for the cost of raising and releasing a wombat, Kangaroo or Wallaby
* Help to raise funds to build Tasmania's only Native Wildlife Hospital
* Help to educate the public on road safety with native wildlife to help stop roadkill
*Help to fund continual fencing around the Bayview property for animal security\
*Help to build a public education centre where they can come and interact with some of the orphans to learn their likes and dislikes

Press this link and donate whatever you can afford because whatever it is will be greatly appreciated by all the animals.  Thank you...Marcia
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=DVZ5NM2G743FQ

Here are some more cute pics of us all...

Keep posted we will be publishing a diary of our lives in the next few days...

WE ARE THE LUCKY ONES!

My name is Jimbo and I am an eighteen month old wombat who was rescued by a caring member of our community after my mum was killed on the road by a car.
 Our new mum, Marcia and dad Chris from Bayview Bush Babies, Lake Leake Road, Swansea, Tasmania, Australia look after us 24/7 feeding us every 4 hours until weaned.  She gives us all the love and care we need to grow big and strong.  She does not cage us and we get to mix with our native cousins who teach us all the bush skills we need to be able to survive in the wild.  We stay with mum until we feel we are ready to go off into the bush to live.  We always miss her so we usually visit each few weeks or sometimes months to show us we are well and introduce her to our new friends or partners. 
My mum and dad have been volunteer wildlife carers for 12 years in Tasmania who devote their lives to our welfare without funding or assistance from anyone.  They have not had a holiday for years because they would worry leaving us with someone else in case something happened to us.

 Wow! are we the lucky ones.  If anyone feels that they would like to fund one of our keep until we go into the bush I am sure she would appreciate it.  She is not doing it for the money and would probably appreciate some help but would never ask for it.