Bush Baby Rescue

by Rebecca Johnson

  ‘Let’s go and see what Mum wants us to start with,’ I say. ‘My Oscar’s still a bit small but the sugar gliders are coming along well. I wonder if they’ll start on solids soon too?’

  Mum is in the surgery feeding Button, the baby koala. We call him Button because he has a little button nose that he always pokes out of his pouch first when he comes out for feeding. He is sitting up high on his teddy mother’s back, slurping vigorously at his bottle. He turns his head to look at us but doesn’t take the teat out of his mouth.

  ‘He’s such a guts,’ laughs Mum. She gives him a little pat on his fluffy bottom. ‘The teddy bear was such a good idea, girls.’

  We all beam proudly at each other.

  ‘Will he ever be able to be released into the wild again?’ Maisy asks.

  ‘I don’t think so,’ sighs Mum. ‘His claws and pads on his back feet are very badly scarred, so he is probably better off in a sanctuary where he won’t have to climb fast to escape predators.’

  For a moment we look sadly at Button, but then he buries his head into the teddy’s soft fur.

  ‘At least he’ll get to keep his teddy!’ laughs Chelsea. ‘He looks pretty attached to it.’

  ‘What should we start to feed our possums on now, Mum?’ I ask. ‘Six of them have reached their goal weight for solid food.’

  ‘Start with a little bit of stewed apples and banana custard. I bought some little cans and put them in the pantry. Just offer them a little on a spoon first, then we can start to leave a bowl out for them to help themselves.’

  ‘Mum thinks maybe mine are ready for a cage now, Mrs Fletcher,’ says Maisy.

  ‘They are, Maisy. There are plenty in the surgery you can choose from. As they grow they will need bigger cages with branches to climb on and lots of leaves and flowers to choose from. You can help decorate their cages. By the time they reach 800 grams, they won’t need milk at all and they can go to release aviaries.’

  ‘How do they work?’ asks Chelsea.

  ‘They are large cages in the area where the animal will eventually roam free. Once it has had time to get used to the surroundings, the door or roof is opened so that it can start to become a wild animal again,’ explains Mum.

  ‘Where will we release ours?’ I ask quietly, trying not to look worried.

  ‘A carer that lives in the mountains where the possums came from told me she has some outdoor release aviaries we can use.’

  Mum looks at me. She knows how I am feeling.

  ‘I guess they need to be free,’ says Chelsea.

  I desperately want to change the subject. ‘Should my gliders be having solid food yet?’ I ask. ‘They weigh about 30 grams each.’

  ‘You’ll know when they are ready. At about 35 grams they will start to explore their surrounds and look for ways to escape. You can offer them a few little things and see how they like them. They are a bit different to possums, because they are mainly insectivores – that means they eat insects – so they need a lot more protein.’

  I whip out my Vet Diary and take some notes as Mum tells us what they eat.

  We spend the rest of the afternoon setting up cages for Chelsea to put her possums in. We make sure they have a warm, dark box with bedding, branches, water and food. Chelsea has a real talent for cage decorating. Maybe she could become a world famous animal trainer and pet cage decorator.

  Maisy’s mum has some old chook cages at home that Maisy can use to do the same thing for her babies.

  That night I am lying in my bed and can hear my little gliders and Oscar moving around in their pouches and pet carriers. At first I didn’t sleep much when I could hear them moving around, but now I don’t know how I’ll sleep when they’re gone. They really are starting to become nocturnal and wanting to come out at night. Mum’s right. It won’t be long before my babies need to go out into the surgery cages too. I feel really sad and wonder if mother possums feel sad when their babies leave their pouches for the last time. Or birds whose babies leave their nests? I get my gliders out for a cuddle, even though they don’t need feeding. Being a vet can make your heart ache. I am so glad I don’t have to let Curly and my other pets go. I just wish I could keep them all.

  More than a month later, Mum and I are cleaning out the cages in her surgery when the door suddenly flies open and Max yells, ‘He’s back!’

  ‘Who’s back?’ calls Mum, as the door slams shut and Max disappears.

  The door swings open again and Max’s face pokes around it. ‘Killer, of course!’

  We race outside to see the sandpit full of dinosaurs, as usual. Dad has been called too, but he stands at a safe distance with his coffee.

  ‘Look,’ points Max, ‘in the middle. He’s come back to visit his friends. I told you he liked them, Juliet. I told you they were his friends.’

  I shake my head and smile at the large blue-tongue lizard soaking up the sun in the sandpit in the middle of all Max’s plastic dinosaurs.

  ‘See, Juliet,’ boasts Max. ‘I could be a vet too.’

  Dad nearly chokes on his coffee.

  ‘Well, you vets better get dressed and ready because we are due at the Brown’s dairy in one hour.’ Mum smiles and scruffs Max’s hair. I’d like to scruff Max’s neck.

  We all drive out to the dairy later that afternoon. Even Dad comes. Tonight it’s time for Maisy’s possums to be set free because they have reached their goal weight.

  Mrs Brown has converted her old chook pens in the orchard into release aviaries for Maisy’s possums. Chelsea, Maisy and I helped set them up with lovely trees to climb in and boxes to hide in. Whenever Mum visits the dairy, Chelsea and I go along and whisper to them through the wire. I’m sure they remember us as they peer out from their little homes.

  All of our families sit quietly on rugs in the paddock with a picnic dinner as the sun sets and the night sky settles over us. It is a calm, still night with lots of stars and the crickets chirping around us make me smile. I glance over at Dad. He’s sitting on the esky, carefully checking the rug under his feet for creepy crawlies.

  When it’s time, Mr Brown takes his ladder and slowly pulls back a door in the roof of the release aviary.

  There is a thick rope that leads from the hole to the high branches of the nearest tree, the apple tree.

  While we wait, I look at the sketch of the release aviary that I did in my Vet Diary.

  ‘I can’t see them,’ says Max.

  ‘Be patient,’ Mum says in a low voice, ‘they’ll take a while to feel brave enough to come out.’

  ‘I see Lambchop!’ whispers Maisy excitedly. ‘Look, he’s the size of a rockmelon!’

  We all chuckle quietly.

  ‘I hope they find the rope,’ says Mrs O’Sullivan, as two more plump brown balls appear from their boxes and crawl up to sit near Lambchop on a branch.

  We wait for at least ten minutes and Max and Harry start to poke each other and wrestle on the rug. Dad is asking Mr Brown whether snakes are nocturnal.

  At last Lambchop sees the rope and starts the long climb up it and through the hole into the apple tree, his little hands clinging easily to the rope. The other fat, brown possums shuffle after him.

  Everyone gives a small cheer and Chelsea smiles at me a bit sadly.

  I look over at Maisy and see that she seems genuinely happy.

  ‘I guess they’re not meant to be pets in little cages,’ I say quietly.

  ‘No,’ Chelsea laughs as Lambchop leans over to pluck a juicy flower from its stem and stuffs it into his mouth. ‘I guess they’re not.’

  ‘Goodbye, babies,’ I whisper to myself as I think about how sad it will be to let my little gliders go. Sometimes doing the right thing is the hardest thing of all, and vets have to learn that.

  Quiz! Are You Nearly a Vet?

  1. What do you call a baby possum?

  a. A kitten

  b. A cub

  c. A joey

  d. A puggle

  2. What did Juliet find under her bed for the
baby koala?

  a. Her lunch from three weeks ago

  b. A teddy bear

  c. One of Max’s dinosaurs

  d. Three sheep

  3. Before you feed a baby possum you should :

  a. Give it a big cuddle and a kiss

  b. Put on its bib so it doesn’t dribble

  c. Sing it a nursery rhyme

  d. Wipe its bottom to make it go to the toilet

  4. Blue-tongue lizards love to eat :

  a. Snails

  b. Ice-cream

  c. Small children

  d. Fish and chips

  5. Why did the girls have to let their babies go?

  a. They were wild animals and should not be kept as pets

  b. They would get sick of looking after them

  c. The possums would be scared of Max’s dinosaurs

  d. All the kids at school would want one

  6. It was strange to see Juliet’s dad holding a possum because :

  a. He prefers snakes

  b. Animals don’t usually like him

  c. He doesn’t usually like animals

  d. He’s not very strong

  7. What did Juliet’s mum put on the wombat’s feet?

  a. Slippers

  b. Ice packs

  c. Ice skates

  d. Vegemite

  8. What escaped in Max’s room?

  a. Dinosaurs

  b. Cockroaches

  c. Crickets

  d. A sugar glider

  9. What does Max like to have for breakfast on Saturdays?

  a. Cereal

  b. Pancakes

  c. Bacon and eggs

  d. Porridge

  10. All baby mammals drink :

  a. Juice

  b. Soft drink

  c. Cordial

  d. Milk

  Answers : 1c, 2b, 3d, 4a, 5a, 6c, 7b, 8c, 9b, 10d. Well done!

  From Rebecca Johnson

  My dad was never the kind of man who was all that ‘into’ pets, but I have seen him stop his car to usher a snake from the road and go to an enormous amount of trouble to unhook fish to release them. My mum loves all things with a beating heart, and will go out of her way to rescue (and feed) any creature she sees needing help – regardless of its size or number of legs. Both my parents taught me compassion for all animals.

  From Kyla May

  As a little girl, I always wanted to be a vet. I had mice, guinea pigs, dogs, goldfish, sea snails, sea monkeys and tadpoles as pets. I loved looking after my friend’s pets when they went on holidays and every Saturday I helped out at a pet store. Now that I’m all grown up, I have the best job in the world. I get to draw lots of animals for children’s books and for animated TV shows. In my studio I have two dogs, Jed and Evie, and two cats, Bosco and Kobe, who love to watch me draw.

  PUFFIN BOOKS

  Published by the Penguin Group

  Penguin Group (Australia)

  707 Collins Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3008, Australia

  (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd)

  Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA

  Penguin Group (Canada)

  90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Canada ON M4P 2Y3

  (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)

  Penguin Books Ltd

  80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL England

  Penguin Ireland

  25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland

  (a division of Penguin Books Ltd)

  Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd

  11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi – 110 017, India

  Penguin Group (NZ)

  67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand

  (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd)

  Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, Rosebank Office Park, Block D,

  181 Jan Smuts Avenue, Parktown North, Johannesburg, 2196, South Africa

  Penguin (Beijing) Ltd

  7F, Tower B, Jiaming Center, 27 East Third Ring Road North,

  Chaoyang District, Beijing 100020, China

  Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London, WC2R 0RL, England

  First published by Penguin Group (Australia), 2013

  Text copyright © Rebecca Johnson, 2013

  Illustrations copyright © Kyla May Productions, 2013

  The moral right of the author and illustrator has been asserted.

  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  Cover and text design by Karen Scott © Penguin Group (Australia)

  Illustrations by Kyla May Productions

  Colour separation by Splitting Image Colour Studio, Clayton, Victoria

  puffin.com.au

  ISBN: 978-1-74253-548-7