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THE JOYS OF RAISING JOEYS
Di and Peter Paice
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“I’d love to have a joey,” I said to
a friend some years ago, having heard of someone she knew who raised little orphaned
joeys. Months later, my friend saw one of her local eastern greys have a nasty
accident
on a barbed wire fence at her vineyard; the doe dropped the joey from her pouch.
My friend waited in vain for the mother to return. She rang and asked if I still
wanted a joey. I jumped at the chance and contacted Wildlife Aid for advice. It
was necessary for me to join the group and be licensed to care for native animals.
I also had to undergo a very informative macropod training course. Sue Fraser became
my mentor and gave me immediate assistance on handling this newcomer to our family,
and became a wonderful friend with invaluable advice and patience as I asked a million
different questions regarding the behavior and care of our joey. We of course named
him “Joey”. As it is advantageous for eastern greys (sociable mob kangaroos) to
be raised in pairs, we soon got another little boy, then a little girl. In no time
there were three! My husband was just as much in love with our joeys as I was, and
having more available time than me, has been our main carer over the years. He is
so patient and gentle with them and they treat him as their mum. Little did we know
back then that eastern greys have such wonderful and endearing natures that they
would change our lives. They make you laugh, can make you cry if they are sick,
but the reward when you have raised them to a fine healthy individual ready to be
released back to the wild is amazing. We are lucky enough to be able to release
at our property and still see most of our mob returning daily. However, many town
people have successfully raised joeys to a certain size, and then passed them on
to other carers for release.
Seven of our twenty-two babies have come to us from
town and are now grown up and have free access to the bush. We would recommend this
experience to anyone. You need to be gentle, have plenty of patience and time to
feed and love them, but they will trust you completely and form a special bond with
you that is so rewarding. It is a privilege to play a worthwhile part in the life
of a wild native animal! |
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