We have been up and running officially as a charity for 5 months now and WOW there has been a lot going on. There are now 6 joeys in care, Marnie, Micah, Maisie, Merci, Mia and Millie make up the 'M' mob.
Then on soft release we have Charlie, Coco, Caree, Cruz, Tappy, Rosie, Cherish and Calle and together with Peppe the unreleasable Ring Tail possum and baby Brooks a brushtail possum Amaris is a busy little wildlife sanctuary. Peppe has now been joined by Pippa
There were quite a few projects that needed doing in order to have a smooth running sanctuary. There were a couple of pens on the property, one which was converted into a joey pen for day time exercise only as the M mob were still little. But that plan went out the door when Cruz was badly injured. He took over the pen and did not like little kids under his feet. The pen was a huge blessing as it did its job for Cruz keeping him confined and safe as his arm healed. It also meant the M mob were introduced to bush life and exercise a lot quicker than originally intended. I put in a grant application for a fox proof enclosure but received notification that it was rejected as all funds were being reallocated to help people affected by Covid-19 . But it needed to be done and I am so thankful for my gorgeous pen and shack. It is close to the house, big and perfect for the joeys. When Caree came home injured she also spent time in here to recover. The babies love their home. They all now spend most of their time roaming the block during the day but come home before dark for bottles. It is also a safe place to leave them if I need to go out.
I also inherited a wonderful big cage in Albany that needed to pulled apart in order to move it to Amaris. Thank you Paul for the wonderful work you did and all the time you put in cutting it in half and removing the walls ready for transport. Now to put it together. Thank you Cranbrook Mens Shed for the hours you all put in putting together and to Laurie for coordinating it. This is now Peppe's new home and he has been joined by Pippa. Thank you to Antoine a French backpacker the cage is now also fox proof.
It's rough, its rustic, fits perfectly into the surrounds and I love it.
Another project was getting some reticulation at the back. It was a big black dust bowl when dry and a mud bath when wet. Thank you to a grant from WIRES Amaris now has a reticulated back lawn and the grass is growing beautifully. This will be a permanent food source for the joeys and will also be a cool place during the hot summer months.
Campylobacter infection (also known as campylobacteriosis) is an infection of the digestive tract (or gut), caused by Campylobacter bacteria
. Campylobacter is a zoonotic disease. A joey with a zoonotic cause raises the question of the risk this animal poses to others and the
human handler when a positive result returns. There have been reports of multiple deaths in
facilities from one infected joey transferring the disease to others. Thank you to Stueys Plumbing for installing a water purifier to keep the water clean and safe for the joeys and for me.
Thanks to Rhoda Davis &
Chaja Penseel & Co from the Netherlands &
Kate Nabarro of
Ranges Rescue and WIRES for your generous donation to make this happen.
It is getting dark earlier at night and light later in the morning, so I was struggling with bottles and bed times for the joeys so Adam Taylor electrical installed a light in the joey shack and some LED spot lights on the side of the house to light up the pen. It works so good, no more tripping and stumbling in the dark. Except for Millie of course, come bed time she will find the one dark spot in the pen to hide out until she thinks she is going to be left alone and runs to the gate.
There is still so much more I would love to do here.
Fix up the dam and regenerate some of the block with native trees and shrubs
for both the Ring Tail Possums and The Brushtails. It is difficult to grow
anything much as the Roos love anything with new shoots so I need to have an
area fenced off. I have applied for a NRM grant, we will see what happens
there. I have also applied for Land for Wildlife. Land for Wildlife is a
voluntary scheme to encourage and assist private landholders to provide
habitats for wildlife on their property. The Land for Wildlife coordinator can
offer me advice, such as:
ho how to integrate wildlife habitat with other uses of private land to the benefit of the me and wildlife
·
how to manage remnant bushland and the area's wildlife
·
the ecological role and requirements of native plants and animals
how to include wildlife aspects into revegetation schemes and landcare
information about other forms of assistance and incentives that are available.
Waiting for approval after assessment has been done.
In July I will also be having a feed shack built away from the house. I get a lot of wild roos coming in for food and currently they are all hanging out on the patio The feed station will be away from the house and will also encourage the bigger ones to start detaching from me. That's going to be a hard one for me. But it needs to be done for my safety and theirs. They need to be wary of strangers, not friendly with them. It is all part of successfully releasing them back into the wild. Thankfully I have received some funding for this, more details to follow when finalised.
Documents signed today :-)
A huge shout out to Animal Rescue Corporation for a very generous donation
towards food and milk for the joeys in my care.
A big thank you to Marcus St Vincent for his donation of a pallet load of roo pellets to help feed the wild ones, a 10 kg bag of Wombaroo and 3 large bottles of Vytrate to help out with my feed and milk expenses. I have been able to donate some of these bags to other carers in the area in the hope that during this dry season many wild roos can have full bellies. What a blessing to be able to receive such a generous donation, and how thankful I am that there are people out there who care about our wildlife.
There are many animal rescue hubs that are helping wildlife carers around Australia with pouches, hanging bags, teddy bears and medical supplies Amaris has received many boxes from various organisations and they are all so gratefully received. Sewing is just something I don't have time to do anymore and with 6 joeys still in pouches and hanging bags it certainly helps. Thank you to RCC WA, RCC, Inner West Animal Rescue Hub,
Porze / Curtin University Animal Medical Supply Hub, ARC, The WA Wildlife Carers Collective,
Animal Rescue Cooperative Western Australia
and many individuals who also sent parcels and made donations. A big thank you to Jenny Smith from Jowajilla who sent a car rescue backpack for emergency rescues. Two people who deserve a special mention are Jenny Susanto-lee and Sarah Hart. Without your help, support, encouragement and knowing the right people in the industry and putting Amaris and my work out there a lot of this would not have happened.
Through the many challenges I continue to enjoy the many beautiful sunrises and sunsets, spending time with the joeys and the possums, feeding, bottles and even roo poo clean up. Many more projects buzzing through my head, but for now just a little down time now.
Amaris is now registered to accept donations.
If you wish to contribute to the work I am doing, it would be very much appreciated
Amaris Wildlife Sanctuary
BSB 633 000
Account 172206732
OR
