Go Back   IceInSpace > General Astronomy > General Chat
Register FAQ Calendar Today's Posts Search

Reply
 
Thread Tools Rate Thread
  #1  
Old 22-07-2007, 10:09 AM
Dennis
Dazzled by the Cosmos.

Dennis is offline
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Brisbane
Posts: 11,817
A week of wildlife encounters

Hello,

We went to investigate a bunch of noisy Mynahs making a raucous din on our front patio. I soon saw the object of their attention – a cat seemingly asleep against the house. But wait – the cat slowly raised its head, turning around to look at the new intruders and lo and behold, it was a large Possum! He looked injured, didn’t seem to want to move and his ears appeared to be shivering from the cold morning temps.

My wife jumped on the web and read that it was best to try to get him into a box and to a wildlife carer or vet. So, we prepared a box with old sheets but by this time he had jumped off the patio and dragged himself into the side garden under a Golden Cane palm. It looked like his back legs were paralysed and he was shivering – it was a really cold morning and the tiles on the patio would have sucked the heat out of his tired little body.

I put on some thick gardening gloves and crawled under the Golden Cane and just sat watching him soak up some morning sunshine. He seemed to settle down after a while so I tried to throw a towel over him but the fronds of the Golden Cane kept getting in the way. Plan B - grab him by the preferred method just acquired from the internet. I had him by the tail and grabbed him behind the neck but he was so muscular that there wasn’t any spare flesh there so my hand slipped a little and that’s when he bit me, on my thumb, right through the glove! Ouch. We looked at each other - a kind of Mexican stand off. I said I’d let go of him if he let go of my thumb, which he did. A quick follow up grab and I had him and he was in the box with another towel over him and the box lid taped up (plenty of air gaps).

We found a local vet who took him in – he turned out to be a big male with no sign of serious injury apart from a graze on his back legs. Anyhow, he responded well to their treatment and is now in the hands of a wildlife carer and will be placed back in the park behind our house in a couple of week’s time.

Oh, and my thumb is recovering too!

A couple of days later, we were at the Port of Brisbane Visitor Centre with the Vixen giant bino’s when my wife spotted a Jabiru with a rubber ring part way along its beak. We noticed some Ranger type people nearby so we called them over and they were astounded by the views of the distressed bird through the Vixen 30x125’s and the WO 80 ED II.

They tried to set a snare but were unsuccessful and in the meantime I managed to grab a couple of photos through the WO 80 with the Pentax *istDS. We e-mailed the photos to a local bird rescue organisation and they were very pleased to be able to use them as part of educating industry and the public not to pollute our local waterways and environment. The Rangers contacted some birding rescue organisation so hopefully they will be able to remove the offending ring.

Cheers

Dennis
Attached Thumbnails
Click for full-size image (IMGP0964 800.jpg)
106.8 KB36 views
Click for full-size image (IMGP0965 800.jpg)
111.6 KB26 views
Click for full-size image (IMGP0889.jpg)
82.8 KB28 views
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 22-07-2007, 12:30 PM
acropolite's Avatar
acropolite (Phil)
Registered User

acropolite is offline
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Launceston Tasmania
Posts: 9,021
Interesting, must be wildlife encounter week. A couple of nights ago there was a hell of a crash underneath my house which woke me around 3AM. There's no door to underneath so I expected the neighbours cat was skulking around as it sometimes does. A couple of minutes passed and the mysterious crashing and banging continued so my next thought was a drug crazed burglar. I quickly dressed and nervously ventured outside (in sub zero temps) to the underneath of the house. Part of the way under the house I was greeted bit a large wombat, in very good condition, who was the culprit and seeing the light of my torch had started to venture out. I slipped alongside him and gave him a friendly pat and some gentle words of encouragement towards the exit. At one stage he attempted an about face, seeming to prefer the warmer clutter of the area to the great outdoors. Eventually he made his way slowly to the open and ambled slowly home.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 22-07-2007, 12:58 PM
jjjnettie's Avatar
jjjnettie (Jeanette)
Registered User

jjjnettie is offline
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Monto
Posts: 16,741
It is a week for wildlife!
I saw this little fella up the Cocos Palm next to the back verandah yesterday.
At first I thought he was sick, but he was taking the occasional bit of fruit from the palm and eating that.
He flew away at dusk.

I hope they fixed up that Jabiru. Poor thing.
Attached Thumbnails
Click for full-size image (flying fox 21st july.jpg)
141.3 KB20 views
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 22-07-2007, 01:23 PM
Dennis
Dazzled by the Cosmos.

Dennis is offline
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Brisbane
Posts: 11,817
Nice stories Phil and Jeanette - it is nice to hear that our wildlife have kind people that are concerned for their welfare!

My main problem with the Possum was that I was approaching the rescue attempt on the foolish premise that:
  • He would somehow know I was trying to help him and so would be gentle with me and cooperate
  • I was trying to be gentle for fear he had some rear quarters paralysis or injury
  • Being an Englishman, I haven’t really been exposed to real wildlife previously and I still think that small furry things should be treated carefully like pets, so I tend to put their welfare and well being before mine…
I have now had my first lesson, in learning to approach them confidently and firmly to minmise injury to either party. Although I must say, I was mightily impressed when Rob Charteris (Coombell Kid) led that rampaging bull or cantankerous cow or whatever, out of the upper observing paddock in the middle of the night at last year’s Qld Astrofest!

I cannot imagine the qualities someone like Steve Irwin must have possessed, allowing him to do what he did best, protecting our wildlife and environment.

Cheers

Dennis
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 22-07-2007, 05:00 PM
Ric's Avatar
Ric
Support your local RFS

Ric is offline
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Wamboin NSW
Posts: 12,405
Hi Dennis, wait until you have pick up an injured Echidna believe me there is no easy way with those spiky little devils even with gloves. He was a large male that had a fight with a dog and as the vet said judging by the blood which wasn't his the dog came of second best. I'm happy to report he is doing well and back in his natural environment.

cheers
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 22-07-2007, 05:21 PM
h0ughy's Avatar
h0ughy (David)
Moderator

h0ughy is offline
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: NEWCASTLE NSW Australia
Posts: 33,426
nice story dennis
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 22-07-2007, 06:10 PM
matt's Avatar
matt
6000 post club member

matt is offline
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Launceston, Australia
Posts: 6,570
Well done, Dennis.

It's nice to be able to help animals when they need a little TLC.

Good for the soul....if not the fingers!
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 22-07-2007, 10:35 PM
GrahamL's Avatar
GrahamL
pro lumen

GrahamL is offline
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: ballina
Posts: 3,265
I freed a shag caught on a bit of fishing line a while back..it was quite a task as the bird was caught beside a bridge pylon getting smacked by waves.It was nearlly stuffed when i got it in the boat ,but soon started to recover
manageing to bite me on the end of the nose ,thinking this was maybe just a lucky swipe ..I still held the bird a little tighter , it then snaped at my hand and just sliced me so good ..I realised then that its beak is like a razor ..confirmed a little later when i got to the carers to get the fish hook out... the first thing he did was get a long pair of leather welding gloves to handle the bird
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 23-07-2007, 06:42 AM
Bobj's Avatar
Bobj
Registered User

Bobj is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Mackay, Qld
Posts: 282
We get this little tacker nesting every year in the garden. His mate makes the nest from cobwebs and paperbark strips, that hangs from any safe place.( I dangled a piece of old, 5 mm rope from the garage roof.)

The sunbird

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w.../Cheeky385.jpg
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 23-07-2007, 01:14 PM
Bobj's Avatar
Bobj
Registered User

Bobj is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Mackay, Qld
Posts: 282
Jo mentioned that Trev, the tree snake was out sunning himself, so I took up the camera and managed one pic before he snuck back in his hole..........A weep hole in the brickwork under our bedroom window!!!
He has been living there for the past 2 months, nice and warm for him as the wall is on the east side.

The aerial roots are from one of the orchids

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w.../Cheeky118.jpg
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old 23-07-2007, 04:36 PM
Dennis
Dazzled by the Cosmos.

Dennis is offline
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Brisbane
Posts: 11,817
Wow - so many interesting encounters with local wildlife! Graham's encounter with the seemingly ungrateful shag appears to be the most dangerous so far - hope his wounds healed!

Cheers

Dennis
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks


Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +10. The time is now 02:11 AM.

Powered by vBulletin Version 3.8.7 | Copyright ©2000 - 2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Advertisement
Bintel
Advertisement