Weekly Photo Challenge-Refuge:Part 2

Following the recent Weekly Photo Challenge – Refuge, and my entry, I thought you might be interested in the whole story, together with progress photographs of the little rescued baby koala – and the happy ending!

Here in Australia we are taught that if we hit a koala, kangaroo, wombat, etc., whilst driving, to stop and check the pouch to see if there is a joey (baby) inside, because sometimes the baby can be saved.

Fortunately, this driver stopped and although they didn’t check the pouch, they did take the mother to the vet, not realizing she was already dead. The vet made the discovery of twins in mum’s pouch! It is quite uncommon for a koala to have twins, so although there was sadness for the mother’s demise, there was great excitement about her two babies!

So tiny and precious

This was the size of the first twin taken from the pouch – will he survive?
He is so tiny and vulnerable!

Warm as Toast and snug as a bug in my Refuge!

Twins!

Feed Time!

Gettin' bigger now!

Another Refuge for us!

Just Hangin' Around

Can You See us Both?

"I Love You" The photo says it all!

Yes, against all the odds they survived, and are looking pretty healthy!

The babies were initially hand-reared by a Wildlife Carer and then put into a Wildlife Park where they will ultimately be put into the breeding program. The breeding program has been set up because the koala population is seriously dwindling as a result of us humans destroying their habitat with urban development and new roads. They get killed crossing these roads trying to find food or a mate, and are often attacked by dogs.

Contrary to popular belief, koalas are not found all over Australia – they can be found only in select areas along the east coast (mainly the South East corner of Queensland) and South Australia.

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Weekly Photo Challenge – Abundance

I am loving the Weekly Photo Challenge, because it gives me the opportunity to practice my photography skills!

Here is my entry for this week’s Challenge – Abundance.

 

"My Dam Runneth Over"

This isn’t the usual kind of photograph I would have used for this Challenge, but it has special significance for me personally. It’s my dam with an abundance of water in it!

Remember the recent floods here in Australia? They started just before Christmas last year in my part of Australia (the Eastern side), and we were inundated with rain for over a month. Towns were evacuated, people lost their homes and sadly, lives were lost due to the floods. It was bad.

The town I live in was isolated by flood waters as all the rivers burst their banks – no-one could get in or out; we were ready and packed just in case we were told to evacuate. The SES (State Emergency Services) were coming round in boats checking to make sure everyone in our area was still above water.  Thankfully, we never needed their services, but it was touch and go for a couple of days.

The above photo is my backyard only a few days after continuous rain. Our dam burst it’s banks and of course, it flooded our whole area. We rely on rain water here (no town water supply), so when the flood waters receded, we had an abundance of water in our dam and in our rain water tanks to keep us going for months! (Water is very expensive to buy)!

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New Blogs I have visited this week:-

Jeannies Blog – http://nolagirlatheart.wordpress.com
The Laughing Housewife – http://thelaughinghousewife.wordpress.com
Sandra Bell Kirchman – http://fantasyfic.wordpress.com
Marina – http://marinasblogs.wordpress.com
Janet – http://animalsoureverything.wordpress.com

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Weekly Photo Challenge-Refuge

I am loving the Weekly Photo Challenge, because it gives me the opportunity to combine both my photographic skills(?) and my blog which is about pets/animals.

There are numerous opportunities for great shots when you are surrounded by pets and animals of every description,
and as you know, I am passionate about pets!

Here is my entry for this week’s Challenge – Refuge.

"I is safe in here"

This little joey (a baby koala), is being hand-reared after he lost his mother. A joey’s refuge is his mother’s pouch where he feeds from the nipple until he grows to maturity. As he grows and becomes more independent, he will come out and ride on his mother’s back, but in times of danger, he hops back in for safety!  It’s his refuge.

When hand-rearing a joey, a pouch is made from a blanket, a towel, (or something similar), to mimic his mother’s pouch. If they are particularly young, the pouch is heated as they need to be kept continuously warm.   He will be kept in the handmade pouch for as long as he needs it, but will come out to play from time to time.

 

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Random Blog 2011 Challenge

Want to meet new people and make new friends?

Then visit blog you have never visited before – you might be pleasantly surprised!

And join the challenge!    Check it out – click here!

Weekly Photo Challenge – Curiosity

Are you going to take part in the new WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge?

Every week, WordPress will provide a theme for us to get our creative juices flowing. All you have to do it take a photograph relative to the “theme”, and post it to your blog before the next Friday when a new theme will be announced. Simple!

This is my interpretation of “Curiosity”

Are You My Siblings?

“ Come and play with me guys, don’t just sit there”.

He’s curious as to whether they are going to move if he touches them!

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Kangaroos Hitching a Ride

Roos Hitching a Ride

This photo touched my heart and I felt I had to share it with you guys.

The photo was sent to me from friends during the recent evacuation of Theodore, a small country town in Queensland, Australia, which felt the full brunt of the recent floods.

Animal losses were high during the floods with farmers losing livestock, and wild animals were no exception – many got washed away and drowned – but these guys got lucky.
Under normal circumstances a kangaroo would take a swipe at a human and could easily tear him to pieces with his long, strong claws. The feet and tail are even more powerful and dangerous.

So you can imagine how hard it would be to get wild kangaroos into, and then sit, in a boat under normal circumstances . . . this is not a sight you will see
often . . . but then, these were not normal circumstances.

These ‘roos willingly accepted human help and were quite happy to hitch a ride
to dry land. Better than the alternative.

I think even wild animals recognize when a human is trying to help them.

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Weekly Photo Challenge-Boundaries

Are you going to take part in the new WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge?

Every week, WordPress will provide a theme for us to get our creative juices flowing. All you have to do it take a photograph relative to the “theme”, and post it to your blog before the next Friday when a new theme will be announced. Simple!

There are boundaries everywhere we look – fences, rivers, gates, even the ocean is a boundary, as PiP mentions in her latest post. She was brilliant – she thought outside the square!

I guess my photo of a boundary is one of the more obvious ones, but a very necessary boundary in the case of the bird.

Haha! Can't get me!

Having said that, they do look like they are pretty good pals! But don’t get lulled into a false sense of security with these two guys – they both know that they are safe from each other and therefore,the bird is taking liberties with the cat’s nose – and the cat is letting him; he knows the bird can’t get his beak any further out of the cage!
However, it might be a different story if there was no boundary there . . . . .

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Cyclone Preparation for Pet Owners

Queenslanders have once again gone through a tropical cyclone, but this one (Tropical Cyclone Yasi) was a monster, and the Premier of Queensland, Anna Bligh, had stated that it would be devastating, destructive and potentially deadly. She was right.

ID Collar on Pet

After the safety of people, my thoughts turned to the safety of pets,  so I thought it would help pet owners to be aware of some of the preparations they can make for their pets before the onslaught of the danger; it’s too late for this one, but not for the next.
This cyclone was forecast well in advance and because of that, people had time to prepare for it, and that preparation probably saved lives too. This cyclone has taught us that preparation is essential – but what about our pets?

Cyclone Yasi Aftermath

Animals become very anxious during weather events such as this, so pet owners should ensure that their pets and animals are clearly identified with ID tags, showing telephone numbers – just in case some of them try to escape from their homes and yards during the cyclone.

It is recommended that pets should be kept somewhere familiar where they can be monitored; they need to feel secure, so keep them in a place where they feel comfortable and somewhere that is familiar to them. If the owner is anxious, this will pass on to the animal, so try to keep as calm as possible.  Make sure there is plenty of water and food available to last at least a few days – just in case.

The noise a cyclone brings with it is horrendous, and will be terrifying for an animal – remember their hearing is more sensitive than humans, so they will be more prone to any kind of noise. Torrential rain lashing down on the roof makes a deafening sound, the fierce winds will pick up anything in it’s path and the debris will come crashing down on buildings. Uprooted trees will be thrown about like toothpicks and might even come flying through windows, so make sure any windows are taped up or covered with plywood.

The main thing is to try to keep as calm as possible as this is the time when animals will become extremely distressed and may even try to run away because they are so frightened. The animal is a lot safer inside a building with his owner than he would be out on the street.
A cyclone of the magnitude that this one is would pick an animal up and toss it around like a rag doll; it wouldn’t stand a chance.

So preparation is essential, keep the animal in a safe place, wearing ID, and try to keep calm until the cyclone danger is over.

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