Friday, October 16, 2009

Day 16 of Blogtoberfest - The Joeys.

Meet Luke and Banjo! I don't know which one is named which though. They are Western Grey Joey's, about 8 months old. They weight just over 3 kilos each.

Mum volunteers at a local wildlife reserve once a week, but she is a full time Joey Nanny. These guys are maybe the 4th lot she has looked after. The history is always hazy. Their mother's are killed either accidentally or on purpose and luckily someone eventually thinks to check the pouches and finds these guys. Apparently Luke and Banjo were put on a passing truck from the road side, handed into the truckies neighbor who knew someone at the reserve who handed them in and then they found themselves in my folks backyard.

They are bit like having a newborn! Mum has to feed them every 3 hours although at night they sleep through.

They love snuggling in their bags and as you can see, the girls love snuggling them! They love helping Mum feed them and get them in and out of their bags. They understand they are wild animals and that when they get bigger they will go back to the reserve for awhile longer and then they will be released to the bush again.

And this is the latest addition to the family, Rosebud. She is also a Western Grey and weighs only 750 grams, she is so young she hasn't got any fur on her body. Mum has only had her for a few days. She let the girls hold her but the flash on my camera freaked her out and she scuttled back into her bag after this shot.

So you won't see kangaroo's bouncing down the streets in Australia, but you will see some bouncing in my folks backyard.

7 comments:

Cristin said...

Oh my gosh! I'm in the US and wild kangaroos just don't exist here! They look adorable! I've seen them in zoos... but thats it! Kudos to your mum for taking care of them =)

suburban farm said...

What a great experience for your girls.

Lisa said...

OH they are so cute, Helen!the girls look they are having lots of fun!

Shari said...

There are actually a lot of people around like your Mum and they do such wonderful work. Thanks for sharing such a beautiful story - Hope Mum can handle 3 babies!

Cheers - Shari

wishes, true and kind said...

Soooo cute, and what fun for the girls! Your mother is so awesome to do this volunter work!

dutchcomfort said...

You mum really does some wonderful work! Good to hear those little kangaroo bundles will be back into the wildlife.

The pictures are adorable! I only know kangaroos from the zoo, but I don’t like zoo’s. I think all animals need to be in their natural habitat.

Lily Mulholland said...

Look at little mummy Grace! Wonderful photos, you can tell grandma loved showing off her volunteer work to the kids :)