Bert's Story (cont'd from mainpage)

In July, 2004, Bert's mother had been killed on the road just outside of Cooma, heading towards Canberra. A caring couple rescued Bert and took him to Canberra for the night and handed him over to Wildcare in Queanbeyan.

Wildcare, Queanbeyan warmed Bert up and did the necessary checks on him for injuries. All appeared fine and he weighed in at 800grams. Bert had received a number of feeds whilst he was with Wildcare. Unfortunately he had also received some milk from the people who had found him on the first night. He had been given cows milk, which is a big no no with wildlife. Luckily it was only one or two feeds and these would hopefully pass through his system, without too much trouble.

Once Wildcare had made contact with L.A.O.K.O., our macropod co-ordinator contacted me. I already had another male Eastern Grey joey in care, named "Ernie", and he would now have a "buddy". We like to bring our joey's up in pairs, it makes it much easier on the carer when it's play time and also for when the kids get to go back into the wild and are released.

Arrangements were made and Bert was bought back home to Cooma, closer to where his mother had been killed.

Bert was a very easy baby, who always took his bottle without any fuss. If anything he always wanted more!

As Bert grew, it became apparent, that he was one very affectionate kangaroo. He loves cuddle time with me and my family and always gives little roo kisses on my nose. He also has a habit of trying to clean me frequently.

Something that all my joey's enjoy is their dummy. Bert was especially protective of his and if one of the other's tried to steal it he would just snatch it back. He was often seen hopping around the house with his dummy in his mouth. We had vistior's who stayed with us while he was younger, who marvelled at his personality and charm. (He gave them kisses too)

Bert and Ernie were very happy together and finally another joey came into care and then another and another and another. In all we had 6 joeys, who are now a mini mob on their own. I was working and at one stage all 6 joey's were coming to work with me. I was often seen lurching down the main street of Cooma, with 3 bags on each side. I'm sure some folk thought I was the local bag lady :-)

Bert was released with his mob in early spring. He was 18 months old and ready for the world beyond. We are lucky enough to have a large property and all of our joey's are released here. They come and go as they please and we will continue to provide food for them.

Bert is now over 30kgs - a little hard to weigh him these days - and his release appears to have been very successful. He came home the other night with his buddies for some of their favourite food - apples, oats, sunflower seeds and roo pellets. You can see just how much he has grown!

Carola Vamvakaris,
October , 2005