One of the joys of living with wild animals is going for a walk and having previously cared-for animals come over to you to say ‘hello’.
Recently Rosemary was out walking in the afternoon. It was windy and the local kangaroo mob were unusually nervous. Kangaroos don’t like the wind as it disturbs their vital senses of hearing and smell. But on this occasion the mob were even more nervous so she decided to look around the area to see what was upsetting them. She heard a commotion near one of the fences on the property some distance away from the treatment centre and went to investigate.
A small kangaroo joey was caught in one of the wire fences and was surrounded by a mob of around 20 highly agitated kangaroos . The joey roared and roared sending the mob into a frenzy. The joey’s mother fortunately was on the other side of the fence so she could be fended off as she came in to remonstrate with Rosemary as she approached quickly , lifted and held the joey to prevent it from dislocating its hip. The other anxious kangaroos crowded in quite close and were milling around as the joey continued to roar. With a lot of difficulty she was able to prise the wires apart with her fingers to release the joey’s foot. In an instant the joey slipped to the ground, hopped off to its relieved mother and somersaulted into her pouch. All the roaring ceased immediately and the mob just stood perfectly still and watched.The sudden quietness was astounding.
Rosemary sensed a presence close behind her and turned quickly thinking it might be the dominant male . Instead there was the beautiful ,serene face of Isabella ,one of our released kangaroos . She seemed to be reassuring Rosemary that all was well. Rosemary gently stroked Isabella’s face and felt quite safe and relaxed. On the other side of the fence she noticed Billy with a look of concern. Billy was another of our released kangaroos who we had not seen for several months. Both Isabella and Billy stayed close as the rest of the mob stood still and watched them long after things had settled down and the little joey was safe and happy with its mother.
One by one the kangaroos in the mob came in closer as Rosemary sat on the ground with Billy and Isabella.Now such a serene scene – it had been chaos to calm in a second.