October
Wildlife Watch
The depot is very busy, but thanks to all our carers who willingly take any orphaned or injured wildlife, to the vets who never refuse to treat any animal or bird and never charge for their service. Every one is given our best shot to recover and be returned to the wild.
Of course it is you – the public – who find and bring in the wildlife needing care
and very often leave a donation to help with the cost of feeding.
As I said before,
Busselton has a caring population and it seems to even get better.
Watch for Southern Brown Bandicoot
(Indigenous Name: Quenda)
Pockets of bushland where this delightful animal still lives, exist in and around urban areas such as Busselton and many other places of the South West. However, it is endemic to this area.
It is not an easy animal to spot, being both shy and nocturnal with an ability to scoot very fast. However, it leaves clues to it's presence, for instance small, shallow, conical diggings in your lawn or garden as it searches out worms, grubs and roots upon which it feeds. Or it may help itself to dog or cat food – a very brave thing to do when the cat or dog is enemy number one.
The grey-brown animals with cream-coloured bellies are sometimes mistaken for rats, even though their body shapes are far more compact and their pointed heads and short, stiff tails should make them easily recognisable.
The nests are fairly shallow, open burrows, lined with dry grass and leaves, concealed under shrubs, logs, timber or buildings.
There are up to four babies born twice a year and at any time of the year as long as food is plentiful. The babies leave the pouch when still quite small. Sometimes they remain in the nest while mother forages, but very often they run along with her.
As can be imagined, the mortality rate is very high, especially when the young get to the stage where they have to find a new habitat – suburbs are not habitat friendly. However, they can be if everyone cares. A small tunnel under fences will open up a larger range for the colony and everyone will benefit. If you think, their habitat is threatened by development let CALM know, so they can be removed to a safer area.
Keep pets controlled, most injuries and deaths are caused by cats and dogs.
Get to know the individual members of the colony, their habits and threats, so you can protect them if necessary. If a diminished home range will cause food shortage, you can top it up with dog biscuits, chook pellets, peanuts or chicken bones on occasion – but not all the time. We don’t want them to become dependent. Leave a shallow dish of water – especially in summer.
If you should find an injured, sick or orphaned quenda, you will have to try to catch it. Easy said! They are a neat, shapeless parcel of muscle and slippery, coarse fur – very fleet of foot.
A crab net, a medium thick towel, so you can feel the neck part to get a grip, or
an open bag to run it into may help. Don’t ever be tempted to catch it by the tail,
it is frail and may break off. I have never had one attempt to bite, but beware of
claws.
Having caught it, put it into an open weave pillow slip and tie the top. They
are the greatest escape artists, but once secure in the pillow slip, they should
be safe until you can get them to the vet or a carer.
This is one of the cutest, most engaging animals. Let us try to preserve it for future generations. Let us not assume someone else is caring for our wildlife – it is all up to us, the people!
Mabel Bell