Those of you following my Instagram feed or Snapchat story likely saw the quick snaps of me holding a baby wallaby a few weeks ago. Well, I wanted to share a little bit more about how that happened and what I learned.
On my second day in Bermagui, on the Sapphire Coast – I went up to Mystery Bay. I only went there because my guidebook mentioned a natural swimming pool at one end of the “main surf beach” and I was on a mission to find unique swimming holes. My first stop was the main beach in town, and then someone told me that the main surf beach was by the campsite, so I wandered through there. I did see a wallaby – and I was so excited to finally see a “real” Australian animal – but I had no idea that my encounters would get even better.
If I hadn’t wandered down to the campsite beach, I would have very likely completely missed what happened next.
There was no swimming pool in sight – and the weather was wickedly windy – so I decided to check out 1080 beach, another “surf beach.” I drove out there and spotted four people standing around a very dark, kind of slow, wallaby. Camera in hand – I had no idea what was going on -, I wandered over. They said he was sick, and that they had called the rescue people.
The first photo is of a healthy wallaby, one of the ones I saw on my walk to the beach. His ears are intact, and he has no crusty eyes or matted fur. See the ears in the photo above? They are covered in large ticks. His fur is matted in places and his eyes were covered in crust. Poor wallaby.
Berys and Andy
Berys and Andy are just two regular people who caretake orphaned wallabies and kangaroos. As one of the main members of WIRES – (Wildlife Information and Rescue Education Services), Berys gets the chance to save baby wallabies and kangaroos when their moms are dead. While they debated what to do about this guy, I headed down to the beach to see about this mysterious swimming pool, but no luck there either.
I returned to the carpark just as they were about to try to get a hold of him to take away. I watched while Andy pulled on a pair of heavy duty canvas gloves. Berys had a big burlap sack and with her help, Andy was able to capture the wallaby. I already had their number, so I said I would call in the morning and try to visit. I left them to the slight struggle and went back to Bermi.
baby wallaby adventures
The next afternoon, I drove out to their place. Berys introduced me to the three orphaned wallabies they currently have: a red-necked wallaby named Sgt Pepper (9 months old), and two grey wallabies, Jude and Jarrah (both 11 months old.) She told me that they made the difficult decision to put down the one they rescued the day before. See, normally, wallabies are skittish. They don’t hang around people, not like this guy was at the parking lot. That, combined with the lice, the ticks, and the rheumy eyes, convinced them that it was the right decision, tough as it was. In my years volunteering at the animals shelters in KC, it was always hard to talk about euthanising a creature that can’t defend itself to you, but there are so many factors that go into these decisions and I can’t fault them for their choice.
holding a baby wallaby
Instead of seeing the wallaby from the day before, I spent time with the juveniles. Sgt Pepper went right to Berys and her “pouch” (an old sweatshirt) and she brought him over to me. Just like I would with a dog, I stretched my hand out so he could get used to my smell. Animals in general (like people, I suppose) are hesitant around scents they don’t recognise/people they don’t know. Soon, Berys handed me the pouch. Pepper snuggled right in to me while Andy showed me his toes. Wallabies have long, thin claws, cushy pads, one hooked nail to clean their ears and fur with. Andy also talked about how their front claws are more like our own hands – perfect to grip the scrub with while they eat the leaves.
After a while, I set Pepper down and Berys was able to get Jarrah. Being older, he is also much heavier and she sat down with him while I stroked his soft hair.
Jude lay in the shade under the tree; she came in as an older juvenile and in general isn’t too sure about other people. I admired her from a distance though.
When Berys put Jarrah down, he went straight for the shelter of a nearby tunnel.
Wallabies are typically creatures that prefer to be out of the open, and Berys and Andy have improvised shelters out of truck mud guards. They’re more like tunnels, with straw and grass inside them. They have the added benefit of shade in the hot Australian weather.
baby wallaby enclosures
There are two enclosures on the property. The first is a small, fully fenced in enclosure for the youngest wallabies. The chain link fence goes over the top, to keep out eagles, and also under the ground to about a foot out from the fence line, so foxes aren’t able to dig down under the fence. There’s a small door between the two enclosures. Once the joeys get old enough, they can go between the two. The largest enclosure has a much taller fence, but no roof. When I asked about jumping, Andy explained that “because they can see through it, they don’t know how tall it is and won’t try to jump.” If it was a solid wall, they would know how tall it was – and would jump it in a heartbeat.
I said my goodbyes and we slowly made our way out of the enclosure. I turned back to look for the wallabies but the scrub obscured their little grey bodies. As I drove down the gravel road, I reflected on the unique experience I’d just had.
It’s always been a dream of mine to have a wallaby approach me on a beach or park. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I would be standing in a small homemade sanctuary on my fifth day in Australia, holding a baby wallaby… All because I couldn’t find the swimming hole.
Spontaneous adventures at its best!
I can’t give away any secrets as to where this took place… But if you’re ever in southeastern Australia and see an injured wallaby, call WIRES or NANA and take any injured wallabies or joeys to a nearby vet. And, if you’re lucky, you might meet the lovely Berys + Andy!