But you'de better be quick if you want the freebie, there's only a few hours left. It doesn't matter if you miss out though 'cause you can get it for just one dollar. Tee-hee. Then Gertie and I can buy bubblegum and lollies. Mmmm!
Here is the link to our free book. Be quick, or pay the dollar:
Wallabies and kangaroos have grazed safely on our property and the surrounding wetlands since we first moved here. Though I love dogs and cats, we don't have any because of the wildlife in our garden.
Earlier this month, I posted about local dog owners allowing their dogs to escape their gardens and roam our valley. These dogs have been chasing kangaroos, wallabies, and wildlife in our estate. So far we have found two dead wallabies and three dead joeys, and who knows how many others there are in the surrounding forest and bush tracks. When chased, a wallaby or kangaroo will often throw their joey, which leaves the poor baby vulnerable to predators. Last weekend, this very thing happened in our garden.
Dog owners in our country estate were told to keep their dogs secured, but last week some dogs were out again, chasing the kangaroos and wallabies. The next morning, we noticed a little Red-necked wallaby, with a joey in her pouch. The mother wasn't eating any grass and was sitting in a funny position.
When we tried to get close to her, she hopped away. She'd lived in our garden for years and had had many joeys. We didn't know if she'd been injured by the dogs or something else, but we kept an eye on her so that if she died we could save the joey. She stayed in our yard and the next morning we found she still wasn't eating. The joey hopped out and bounced around, squeaking because he was hungry. Though we tried to capture him, he was way too fast, and when he got back in the pouch, the mother hopped into next-doors garden. See the video below.
We tried for many hour to capture the joey, and the mother, but they were way too fast. We noticed that the joey was having trouble getting back into the pouch, which was probably because the pouch had shrunk because the mother had had no food or water in her stomach. Now the joey wasn't only starving, but the sanctuary of his mother's pouch was becoming unavailable to him. He hopped around squeaking in a panic and my husband and I tried desperately to catch him with a sheet him. When I got down on the grass and pretended to be a wallaby, he hopped right up to my head, (as you can see in the above video), but before I could grab him, he bounced away again. My heart broke. The mother hopped underneath the neighbour's house and the joey followed her, and finally, he managed to squeeze into the pouch. Happy that the joey would be warm for the night, I placed a bowl of water and some oats and crushed weetbix under the house near the mother, hoping they would eat something or at least have a drink. It was already getting dark by then, so we decided to leave them in peace for the night. We didn't want them hopping into the forest because then we'd never be able to rescue the joey if the mother died.
I couldn't sleep much as I was wondering how I could rescue the joey. I knew the mother was getting weaker and thought it might be easier to grab her. As soon as it was light enough I went next-door, but the wallabies weren't under the neighbour's house. They'd gone. I desperately tried to find them and searched vacant blocks, long grass and woodlands, but I couldn't see them anywhere. It had been a very cold night and I knew that the joey wouldn't survive for long out of the pouch, especially with no food. I hadn't seen the joey eat any grass so he probably didn't have his teeth yet. Sadly, I tramped home, but searched again in the afternoon. I knew the mother couldn't have gone far because she would be too weak, so I did another search of the neighbour's property. The neighbour's weren't there, so I searched all over, trudging through the long grass. Then I found the mother wallaby. She was dead and lying on her belly. No way could the joey have got in the pouch to keep warm. The funny thing was, I had searched that area the day before, but I didn't see her then. I guessed that the body could have been dragged from another spot during the night by a predator. But where was the joey?
I searched for the joey all evening until it was too dark, but to no avail. I asked the local folks if they's seen it, but no one had. The father wallaby came and sat next to his dead wife and I hoped the joey would too, but he didn't. Sadly, I guessed the same predator that killed the mother had probably taken the joey. This broke my heart. We had been watching and filming this family of wallabies for years. Many of my blog posts have photos of these beautiful creatures.
We didn't bury the dead wallaby becasue we hoped there was a possibility that they joey would come back to its mother, as they do. I knew it was possible for a joey to survive for a few days without food, so I still hoped to save it. We've saved joeys before that have survived in their dead mother's pouch, though I knew if we did save this one, it would most likely have pneumonia from the cold.
But the next day I saw a large dog, dragging the dead wallaby across the grass. I lost all hope of ever rescuing the tiny joey then. I couldn't believe that these dogs were still roaming free after the owners were told of the dead wildlife, and even today I saw a dog roaming at the bottom of our garden. Another neighbour told me she'd seen two large dogs in the paddocks yesterday.
WHY DON'T THE OWNERS KEEP THEIR DOGS IN THEIR OWN YARDS?
These dog owners may think they love their pets and that they should be able to run around and have fun. Well, they can't love their dogs that much because one was hit by a car and killed a few weeks ago and another one has gone missing, probably gone bush or was also hit by a car. Are the owners thick? We live near a highway full of traffic and trucks, not to mention the idiots that speed in our estate even though the signs say 30 KPH, and sometimes our native animals get hit and killed by motor vehicles. There's also been quite a few dogs killed since we've been here, as well as ducks, wallabies, kangaroos and other animals. I have the flu now from getting a chill after searching for the joey in the cold night air, but at least I can wrap up warm in bed. Our wildlife can't, they just perish when they get a chill, and on land that is theirs, not pet dogs. The video below was filmed a few weeks ago and before the dogs got out. Now there are no wallabies or kangaroos anywhere near our garden, or in the surrounding areas and wetlands. They've moved to safer ground until the dogs are no longer here. It's a shame because it was so peaceful here for them. See our garden in the video below.
Hello! I'm Pollyweena Grubble from Patricia Puddle's RascalsSeries. I sneaked onto my author's blog while she's gas-bagging on the telephone. Come and follow me on Twitter. I have my own account. Tee-hee.
But guess what? I spelled my name wrong and put an extra e in the middle of my name. I don't know how to fix it, but here is the link to my twitter account.
I live in a rural estate in Australia with fifty other land owners. We all have our own properties and share the co-owned land of hundreds of acres, which is left for wildlife and farm animals to graze upon. There's also many dams and wetlands as well as the beautiful forest and a river.
Our estate is one of the most beautiful places on the planet and full of wildlife. I'm thrilled that kangaroos and wallabies graze on our property every day. I love all animals including dogs and cats, but I don't understand why the owners of some pets don't obey the rules of our covenant. I go for a bush walk every day, and though I usually enjoy my walks, sometimes I don't.
Why? Because many lot owners don't seem to care about our wildlife and think it's okay to let their dogs and cats roam around and kill native animals. For the past few weeks there have been a number of large dogs that we've seen chasing kangaroos and wallabies along the dirt roads and then into the woods. This is awful to watch and some of the kangaroos and wallabies dropped thier joeys from their pouches as they ran to escape. The dogs mauled and killed some joeys, leaving them in the woods and along the bush tracks. I found two dead joeys along the dirt roads and wonder how many there are all through the forest that were killed. The owners are regularly asked to keep their dogs in their own property, but of course most say it wasn't their dogs. They complain that the dogs jump the fence when they are out. What's wrong with the owners? Can't they build better fences? It's against council laws to let dogs and cats roam free, but this doesn't deter some folks.
My other grievance is that many dogs in the past few years have been run over and killed on our estate roads because they are allowed to roam free, cats too. As I said, I love all animals and dogs and cats too, but these ignorant pet owners don't seem to care. They just buy another dog or cat, after all, they can get them cheap at the pound. It's not the dog's or the cat's fault, it's their owners. They shouldn't have animals if they're not going to love them like a family member.
Two days ago, as I was walking around the estate, I saw two big dogs chase a wallaby into a barbedwire fence and then try to attack it. It managed to escape, but injured its back and then those darn dogs chased it into the forest. And all the while the owner stood their shouting at them to come back. They didn't return for half an hour. Now I wonder how many animals were hurt or killed in that time. The dogs should have been on a leash, but the owner didn't have one.
Do those dog owners that let their dogs run free love their pets? I don't think so. There was an article in our local paper recently that reported a number of dogs had been poisoned in town because some folks were sick of dogs attacking them in the streets. The poor dogs must have died a horrible death. That should never happen and as well as that many magpies died from eating the poisoned meat.
Animals shouldn't suffer because of human ignorance and stupidity.
Look after your pets and keep them safe as well as protecting the world's beautiful wildlife. Native animals have enough to cope with. After all, they have wild predators to chase them without us humans adding to their demise, not to mention many become road-kill. In our estate, motorists are supposed to drive at 30 k per hour, not 60 or 70 like some drivers do.
This Red-necked Wallaby and it's tiny joey was found not far from my house. (Sorry for the upsetting image.)
