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
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