Sammie Jo - where it all began

At my bible study group the question was asked what decision have you made in your life that seemed small at the time but has had a major impact on your life.?

Enter Sammie Jo.

As a hostess at a 5 star B&B in Albany I thought it would be kinda cute to have a joey for our international guests. I was completely clueless about the proper care for both physical and the emotional needs of such a precious little life.  I didn't even know there was such a thing as a wildlife carer.  One of my colleagues was a professional roo shooter - didn't know what that meant either.  I asked him if he ever shot a Mother with a joey in her pouch.  He explained they tried very hard not to, but sometimes it happened.  I asked him if he could save the next one for me.  It took 3 years and on the morning of 18 September, 2014  I walked into my office and there was a large box with a joey inside.

I picked up the box and went straight to the vet with her.  They gave her a physical check, weighed her 2.7 kg and supplied me with information on feeding and care and off I went home with Sammie Jo, bottles, teats and formula.  

I still cringe when I look at the first photos we took of Sammie Jo.  Poor baby girl.

A cousin had reared joeys in the past and she taught me about toileting and hanging bags and pouches.  Things went well, google was Sammie's friend and the Mount Barker Vet Clinic answered a zillion questions.  Eventually they put me in touch with Pauline who was a very experienced wildlife carer.  She was an enormous support and helped so much with Sammie Jo.

Sammie was very well loved and after a lot of advice from Pauline she started to be loved as a joey kangaroo not a pet.

She hung around the house and never ventured too far.  One day she came home in a trail of blood.  She had a very bad cut on her foot.  We had it xrayed and seems she had trod on a piece of glass, she was an amazing patient....for a little while.

The first morning she didn't come home I was a mess, I traipsed through acres of farmland, over electric fences, through mud, creeks and ponds till I finally found her.  She looked at me as if to say, what's wrong Mummy I am just being a wild roo and exploring.  I looked at her and said time to go home baby girl.  I looked around and had no idea where I was.  (days before mobile phones and google map for me)  I told Sammie Jo she needed to take me home which she did.

She was a tired girl.  Then Pauline asked us to babysit Josie for a while and eventually Josie made her home with us and Sammie Jo became her big sister.  she took her job seriously.

Sammie became a wild child at night but day time she was at home, most of the time just hanging on the office floor and spending time with Josie.

Many a day she would lie of the office floor contemplating life....wild child or pampered pet?  but the call of the wild was always stronger.  

I remember one AFL grand final, I never watch that but it was a cold day and nothing else to do, Sammie Jo slept on my lap through the whole match.  I loved this little girl so much and loved her affectionate nature and how during the day she just loved to cuddle and snuggle, no matter how big she was.

Sammie Jo at 14.2 kg on 3 October, 2015 watching the grand final

One morning Sammie Jo didn't come home, she had been gone 5 days and I thought she must have joined the local mob.  My daughter came home from a bike ride and said she had seen Sammie Jo stuck in a fence.  As she approached her Sammie Jo took off.  I went looking for her and searched for hours.  Late afternoon I took Josie for her exercise which was a long stretch of a fire break.  Normally she would stick close to me but this particular day she insisted on going further and I could not get her home.  I said ok Josie take to me where you want to go then and I followed.  She took me to Sammie Jo who was laying paralysed under a big tree.  Josie had never been to this area before, but she knew her big sis needed help.  I carried Sammie Jo back home, no mean feat.  She was a big girl (Suspect 18 kg) and it was all up hill.  I rang Pauline she immediately said its myopathy, stress from a possible dog chase and being caught in the fence as she tried to get away.  The next few days were touch and go.  She slept on a matreess next to my bed.  Every hour I gave her a bottle.  So thankful she still loved her bottles.  I pushed fluids  through her and carried her outside to pee and and indoors again keeping her wam and safe.  She slowly recovered and the look in her eyes said I want over that fence and back into the wild again.

We had to make the heart breaking decision that we could no longer care for her, we just did not have the space for her to recover and still be safe.  Sammie Jo was re located to Dreamers Dream Wildlife Centre and Pauline and Kev did an amazing job getting her completely better, with time, massages, oils and medications.  We got to visit her a lot and she adapted to her new home really well.  She is now running wild and free, no babies yet so think maybe the myopathy may have something to do with that.

Thank you Pauline and Kev for taking her in and loving her, for giving her a beautiful home.  

So this small decision many years ago and has had a huge impact on my life.  Now living here in Tenterden, caring full time for wildlife.  I have learned a lot of the years, esp what not to do.  I still miss Sammie Jo every day and wonder how she is doing.  Its the hardest part of being a carer, never really knowing if they are OK, happy and above all safe.  So many road traumas and death, so many shooters everywhere.

       In my heart always Sammie Jo - so thankful to have been your Mummy for a short time

Building a Wildlife Rehabilitation Sanctuary

I was recently invited to submit an application for a NRM (Natural Resource Management) grant.  I looked at the guidelines and thought yep - I can do that.    It wasn't quite that simple.

Things I had to think about:  

    what specific issues/ threats will the project address.

    activities the project will undertake to address the issues/ threats

    What outcomes will be achieved at the end of the project?

    Consider the risks to your project's success; what risks have you identified,

     and what steps will you take to manage these risks?

    How will your proposed activities benefit the local community and your organisation?

I had an idea of where to go with the first points but community involvement had be me a little stumped.  Did I really want the community traipsing all over my property, interacting with the joeys that I am trying to rehabilitate to get ready for release?

After consultation with Sally from NRM in Perth I made contacts with local community organisations to seek their input, advice and support which ticked that box.

I now have letters of support from :-

Gillami - Gillami is a group of like-minded individuals based in the shires of Cranbrook and Broomehill-Tambellup. The role of Gillamii is to encourage and lead in the efficient use of resources across the community whilst protecting and enhancing the natural environment. Gillami focuses on healthy and natural ecosystems and protecting Bio Diversity within their community.  Australian wildlife falls within their strategic plan.  They were happy to support my application and wrote a great letter of support for Amaris.  They also arranged contact with  a local Environmental consultant for vegetation survey and restoration plan as part of the grant proposal.

Green Skills - Green Skills develops innovative projects that lead the way in sustainability and environmental conservation.  A letter of support was received  - benefit of linking Green Skills experience and knowledge, as well as projects such as the Balijup Fauna Sanctuary to the Amaris Wildlife Sanctuary.  Basil who is the senior project manager visited  Amaris and was excited to see the work being done here esp with the rehabilitation of our ring tail possums.  He also took me on a guided tour of the Balijup Wildlife Sanctuary and it will be exciting to work with them as they have an amazing safe 220 acre feral proof sanctuary to release some of our precious wildlife.  

Greenskills will also be able to provide advice and technical information for flora and fauna

identification and conservation and related matters to the Amaris Wildlife Sanctuary.

Oyster Harbour Catchment Group - Oyster Harbour Catchment Group are on the lookout for landholders to participate in property planning workshops to improve the condition and productivity of their property. They will be running a series of workshops to allow owners to map the characteristics and issues of their individual property, gain a better understanding of managing these issues and plan any proposed works. Well planned  activities can achieve maximum benefits to both productivity and the environment. This is part of their looking back - looking forward initiative.  As Amaris falls within this catchment area (just) They are excited to support my grant proposal and have offered to assist with the development of a property plan for Amaris

Shire of CranbrookCEO - have written a letter supporting Amaris Wildlife Sanctuary and offering support from Joe the ranger.

These 4 community groups are really excited to see the establishment of Amaris as a Wildlife Rehabilitation Sanctuary and are looking forward to working together.  

Wildlife is important to the heritage, culture, and heart of Australia, and we want to preserve

it as a legacy for our children.

Every species plays a niche or role in its ecosystem that helps the whole ecosystem work.

Wildlife rehabilitation helps orphaned, injured and sick animals return to their ecosystems so

that they can continue to play their roles.

Wildlife rehabilitation is especially important for endangered species. There are very few of

these animals left, and wildlife rehabilitation can help make sure more survive to play their

role in the ecosystem.

Wildlife is everyone's responsibility, and deserves care from all people but Wildlife

rehabilitators are the ones that have been trained and been issued with a licence to provide

the care wild animals need when they becomes sick or injured.

Amaris has requested a grant for the installation of a water tank to use as an overflow tank for the current ones during the wet weather.  Wildlife Cameras to monitor predators and pre release wildlife.  Vegetation and restoration plan and the development of a property management plan.  

Outcome of the project:

# Amaris Wildlife Sanctuary staff have the knowledge and ability to confidently manage day

to day operations relating to landcare and managing our natural resources

# Clear direction for Amaris Wildlife Sanctuaries future

# Amaris Wildlife Sanctuary to be known in the great southern community as the “transition

house” for our native animals

# Successfully release suitable rehabilitated animals to the nearby (10km away) Balijup

Wildlife Sanctuary which is managed by Greenskills

# Build a healthy ecosystem for wildlife on the Amaris Wildlife property

# providing wildlife with food and an environment, which closely resembles that of the wild.

# at certain times of the year it can be very difficult to find enough native foliage, so

growing on site will be beneficial

# providing plants, branches, floor leaf litter etc. that are important in making a suitable

environment for the animal/bird while in care. 'Familiar' habitat helps to lessen stress,

makes release an easier transition, and gives essential climbing, exercising, hiding and nest

building practice

# As the Critically Endangered Ringtail possums usually eat only the fresh tips of leaves it is

vitally important to have a variety of trees in different stages of growth to provide suitable

foilage.

This was a huge project and I was glad to finally hit the submit button.  It was a very exciting time as well meeting the team at the various community groups and sharing my passion and vision for Amaris and receiving their support.  They helped me identify the risks and steps to take to minimise that risk.  

A HUGE thank you to Hilary and Freya at Gillami, Sayah at Oyster Harbour Catchment Group, Basil at Greenskills and Joe at shire of Cranbrook for your support in getting the grant over the line.

Cherish

Beautiful Miss Cherish was surrendered by  a MOP (member of the public) on March 17 (St Patrick's Day) together with her brother who was named Patrick.  The family who had these two beautiful joeys had no idea how to care for them and happily surrendered them as soon as they became aware the joeys were not being cared for correctly.

Miss Cherish came into my life that day and what a journey it has been,  First thing we needed to teach her was life in a pouch, that was foreign to her.  She had also been over stimulated with human interaction and had no idea what it meant to go to sleep.  That was pretty tough for a joey who did not know how to be a joey.  It took time and lots of patience.

Her health was severely compromised.  It was touch and go with her for some time with kidney, liver and pancreas issues.  Shey at Nullakai Vet was amazing because issues always happen at night or on the weekend.  Cherish had bright fluro orange pee and with a very high count of Bilirubin in her urine samples we were worried about permanent liver damage due to incorrect feeding.

But Miss Cherish was a fighter and we fought with her.  She learned to love her pouch and hanging bags and enjoyed being with us and not being handled all the time.

This is Cherish a month after coming into care.

We needed to teach her to be a kangaroo, so we began asking around for a buddy.  Enter into our lives Donny.  Donny was a beautiful boy, big bright eyes and the two of them hit it off immediately.  It made a huge difference in Cherish's life to have a buddy.  Thank you Jenny Norton.  Sadly Donny didn't make it.  Behind those beautiful big bright eyes we suspect was some injury and he passed away in his (first) Mummy's arms.  I missed him so much and so did Cherish.  You will never be forgotten beautiful boy.

Calle came into our lives about a month later.  She was about 2 kgs smaller and I was worried they wouldn't bond.  For the first few weeks Calle hated poor Cherish and there were so many spats. They began to tolerate each other and I wondered if they would ever become buddies.

I did not need to be concerned.  They are now inseparable and love each other so much.  Always together walking and hopping in unison.  It is such a joy to watch them together.

As Cherish grew bigger, she became stronger.  Her kidneys, liver and pancreas healed themselves as she began to eat real roo food.  

Now she is going to be a Mummy herself.  I hope and pray that her body is strong enough to carry a baby.  Thankfully she is still on the property and I can keep an eye on her should any problems arise.

Here is Cherish this morning showing off a baby bump.  She doesn't like her head being touched but is always happy to have a chest rub.  She has been a joy to rehabilitate and I am thankful to have had that opportunity.  Patrick went to another carer and he is now living a wild and free life as well.  Thank you to the family for doing the right thing and handing these over, you gave them a second chance at life.  I know there were many tears and I hope you enjoy the updates we send to you.