SNN (ScrollingNetworkNews) ✿ ✿ Our Mel and Sydney returned to their nesting box with plenty of bonding occurring..but after 2.5 months of Sydney in the box from Dec 2013 to mid Feb 2014, the lack of prey gifts from Mel ( perhaps due to the severe and historic drought underway in California)and they have forgone the nesting process this year as many other raptors ✿ Compared to other owls of similar size, the Barn Owl has a much higher metabolic rate, requiring relatively more food. Pound for pound, Barn Owls consume more rodents – often regarded as pests by humans – than possibly any other creature. ✿ We remind viewers that sometimes owlets may not survive - the parents will dispose of things in "The Owl Way" -viewer discretion is advised, this is nature and the "Owl way". ✿ ~ ✿ “Animals, like us, are living souls. They are not things. They are not objects. Neither are they human. Yet they mourn. They love. They dance. They suffer. They know the peaks and chasms of being.” ― Gary Kowalski, The Souls of Animals ✿ Each species is a masterpiece, a creation assembled with extreme care and genius." ~ E.O. Wilson

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Back on your feet again

Seven weeks ago, the joey was brought into her care at Wildwood Wildlife Shelter, near the Grampians National Park, after it was found hanging from a fence.

She feared the baby kangaroo, named Keith, was at risk of losing the use of his toe — and his ability to hop away from predators.

"Once a toe dies it is useless and then you've got the risk of bone infection," she told ninemsn.

"The only option is for the toe to be amputated or for the kangaroo to be euthanased — and for a wild kangaroo there can be no amputations, it's not allowed."

But this month the joey was caught on film hopping again for the first time since the accident.

"After seven weeks of nursing and still not knowing the final outcome, I was very anxious," said Ms Turner, who has dedicated the past 17 years of her life to rescuing wildlife.
Ms Turner has tracked Keith's progress on her self-funded shelter's Facebook page since he was brought in.
A family found the wounded animal while they were out collecting firewood.
"They came across a mob of kangaroos that got disturbed and took off, leaving him behind, hanging from a fence," she said.

"When a kangaroo flips over a fence, their toe locks into two strands of wire and you cannot get it out without assistance. He was so lucky these people saw it and were able to get him out."

Now that Keith is on the road to recovery, he will be "buddied up" with other kangaroos before being released back into the wild.

"It'll be a soft release, so we'll open the enclosure and he can come and go as he pleases," Ms Turner said.