By Joan Reid | Volunteer Macropod co-ordinator
In January this year, two wombats came into our care from Wildlife Rescue South Coast (WRSC) as the fires had wiped out many of their members houses and their animal enclosures. We were happy to help these WRSC members by looking after not only these wombats but many other animals from the fire grounds until they were back on their feet and able to care for them again.
These two wombats were named Michael Jackson (MJ for short) because he had one white foot and other was called Mitch. MJ had smoke inhalation problems and Mitch had burns along his back. When they came into our care they were both small and frightened after all they had been through.
During their time being hand raised by a Sydney Wildlife Volunteer, MJ had to have chest x-rays and oxygen treatment for the smoke inhalation but recovered very well and quite quickly.
Mitch on the other hand had burns and sores on his back, one of the sores turned into a lump that needed a further vet check, needle aspiration and antibiotics. After treatment, the lump went down but did not disappear completely. The vets thought it was probably fibrous tissue but wanted us to keep an eye on it as may indicate the possibility of a small foreign body under skin that they could not find.
After one and half months the lump started to grow larger. In 2 days, it burst and after taking him straight to the vets, it needed to be operated on. The vets found a large abscess and proceeded to remove the damaged tissue and cleaned it thoroughly. Once again, Mitch was on antibiotics in conjunction with daily flushing of the wound and laser treatment to enhance the healing.
In just over three weeks Mitch's large abscess hole had healed up beautifully and he was given the all clear to go back to the south coast to start the next stage of his rehabilitation before his eventual release back into the wild.
The south coast at the end of April looked very different to when we were down there treating burnt wildlife in January. It is now lush and green after the floods and there is once again plenty of food for any wildlife that may have survived the fires.
I hope these two gorgeous wombats continue to grow up big and strong then give the other wombats in their area a run for their money once released.
By Joan Reid | Volunteer Macropod co-ordinator
By Justine Steward | Sydney Wildlife Volunteer
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