What else do we do here, besides sit and cuddle little wombats. We have had a massive program in hand removal of Inkweed a toxic plant that suddenly appeared and taken over creek lines and everywhere. Their long tap root makes it tricky to remove so we have had to cut at ground level a few drops on fresh cut to kill plant. Then we have moved and burnt plant, we have gotten a fair bit done over winter, this is about 1/10th of whats to be done and lots of seed coming up so weeding these out as well. This is an ongoing job now, was not here before bushfire. We would like to thank K2W Glideways for their support in helping pay for the labour to get this far. We will be looking for volunteers as it gets cooler ( less snakes) to help with this.
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We changed what we feed little wombats introducing meadow hay (not straw like or with big seed dry sharp heads needs to be first cut NO lucern ) and a bowl of dirt and water as there first solids then grass with roots and dirt and only a very amount of sweet patato ( carrots a big no no as councils and National parks drop poised carrots in parks fro goats and rabbits) We use finely chopped sweet patato to give oral antibiotics later in life when they come back injured the sweetness helps.
We also always from the very start have bark and sticks to chew, gumtrees, the fibrous back of ironbarks is a fav of most, lots of diff sizes as well.cks to chew, gumtrees, the fibrous back of ironbarks is a fav of most, lots of diff sizes as well.
We have not had another case since in over 30 wombats. Wiggles grew into a wombat of 40 kg and lived in the wild for 7 years seen occasionally the 2019/20 bushfires were to intense and he did'nt make it. Not all vets will tackle filing wombats teeth you need to ask around and Dr Ann Fowler has a good paper on this. email me if you cannot find it online.
We are NOT experts, this is our story we hope its of some help in finding your own solutions. Regards Dianna and Warwick
]]>- Initial 31 Nest box's med small birds and small Gliders = $1,767 costs of materials. Arc has donated $475 for the 21mm plywood many thanks
- Greater Glider and Yellow Bellied Glider nest boxs x 18 = $2,100 and we have now received funding from the Greater Eastern Ranges Greater Glider Program to cover the costs of these which really helps.
just a few Greater glider box's with entry agains the tree. There this colour to blend with the gums were fixing them to as well as its 18 degrees cooler than a dark coloured box. First 3 box's up in June then syd in lockdown, we need a climber to get them up, it will happen got 15 to go up still.
- Glossy, red tail, and yellowtail ,Cockatube tubes x 5 at $475 ea plus freight from WA $2,950 (seem to have the absolute best take up of Glossy cockatoos of all nest boxs and we have 3 glossy left.
A couple of cockatubes for the Glossy Cockatoo which we have painted to reduce the ambient heat in summer by 18 degrees, they are placed on the SE side of trees and 2 went up in June. Glossy cockatoo bought to us for release when the the we had around were there. It had mild concussion apparently.
All funds raised in this gift will be used for construction of box’s and feed stations. We have researched and are using the most popular for the birds and gliders , plus using long lasting materials wanting 15 plus years from there. Hollows wont grow back in our lifetime. So we have a $20 virtual gift available to help us in the online shop to get us started. I
We still have a variety of gliders and birds left, not in very big numbers at all and providing nest box's will give them room to grow the populations. Old hollows can take up to 10 years to form in older trees.
Our box’s are based on the book by Alan and Stacy Franks www.hollowloghomes.com
Our first working bee has cut 9 and almost finished 4 box's Jan 23rd 2021
a few in action shots. Note box's will have a hardwood bit of tree slab on front with climbing ladder and painted for longevity in colours to match the forest. Big thanks to Jane, Mark , Linda and Greg all from ACT (covid fee zone!) Handy to have a big old shearing shed to set up this project in.
King Parrot, Gang Gang, kookaburra and Crimson rosella, just need hardwood slabs on front and paint!
Pre drilling screw holes so timber wont split and screws are flush with box.
Jane shows how she was trimming ands mouthing off stainless steel hinges
Linda puts some weight behind drill to get hole cutter thru 21mm plywood
Linda and Jane onto quality control of first box while the next is put together.
This is the first sales force team to rocklily Many thanks everyone.
And the second team from Sales force built 9 box's and did some work in the wombatorium carting buckets of soil in to fill all the holes and put in grass seed, sadly within an hour Bubule had re dug the, she's normally not un daytime!
were looking for more Climbers to get box's up, covid lockdown in Sydney has slowed it up all boxs and Cockatubes are finished awaiting installation
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Ryan & Missy watch each others' backs
"Come on guys, time to go back where you're nice and safe for the night." "Who, us?" And Warwick spends time enticing the roos back to their 1,500 SQM soft release pen... with roo nuts of course!
Baby possums are very cute and in Warwick's giant hands are adorable!
Spiny Norman ... see his story here in the June 2012 Puggle Post
Spud at close to 20 kg about 3 months from release.