"Susie"
One day I found a female Wallaby lying on the side of the road. I got out of the car to check her. She had been hit by a car and was dead. She had a tiny Joe, confused, crawling all over her trying to get into her pouch. I always had an old blanket in the car for such an occurrence.
I bundled the Joe into the blanket and took it home. It was a female, she was tiny but she already had a nice fur. We called her Susie. I made a pouch for her from an old jumper and bolstered it out with a woollen blanket so she would be comfortable and warm.
I went to the Wildlife Services in Grafton. They gave me a permit to raise Susie. A bottle with a special dummy and instructions how, when and what to feed her. All went very well.
She liked her food. I took her in her pouch everywhere with me, even in the car to go shopping. I knotted the pouch to a coat hanger so I could hang her up on any hook or handle nearby. In the house I usually hung her on a doorknob.
She liked her pouch yet at night she would snuggle up with one of the girls. She would curl herself at their feet under the doona . Mainly she ended up in Lilli’s bed because Lilli had a special gentle nature with animals.
At first we fed Susie with the bottle. We mixed milk with finely ground chicken pellets and a few drops of lemon juice. She did very well and grew quickly to a naughty toddler. In the living room I had one wall covered with bookshelves. She did not read the books she liked to nibble the spines!
She was not at all an absolute herbivore. While she grazed I observed her digging for beetles and worms, which she ate with gusto.
She loved small pieces of steak or frankfurters sausage when we had a barbecue.
Her weakness were almonds. As soon as I was around she nuzzled into my hands and pockets to look for the nuts.
She grew well and soon was a teenager. She grew tame in a way but not absolutely, there was a certain wildness in her. She started to leave us for days. I was worried and went all over the place looking and calling her. Suddenly she came hopping, nuzzling my pockets for almonds. If I did not have any she was angry and boxed me with her paws.
And than there was sadly a time when she did not respond anymore to my calling.
I like to think she rejoined her relatives and lived happily ever after.
She grew well and soon was a teenager. She grew tame in a way but not absolutely, there was a certain wildness in her. She started to leave us for days. I was worried and went all over the place looking and calling her. Suddenly she came hopping, nuzzling my pockets for almonds. If I did not have any she was angry and boxed me with her paws.
And than there was sadly a time when she did not respond anymore to my calling.
I like to think she rejoined her relatives and lived happily ever after.
Photo TS.
Copyright TS.
19 comments:
Oh, Sorry to read about Susie. You are so caring and loving...:) BTW I have started a new blog dedicated to my sketch work — Art on Sketchbook
Hello, it is always hard to accept, that we get aquainted only for a limited period of time. It must have been a wonderful experience to bring up Suzie and you made me smile thinking of an angry animal, that demands almonds....Happy Blogging
Lovely post. I hope Susie is out there having fun.
Great story. I'm sure Susie will always remember you.
Ja das ist auch wieder so eine schöne Geschichte, Du solltest ein Buch schreiben für Deine Enkel, so viel wie Du erlebt hast, liebe Titania.
Bist Du das auf dem Bild? Auf jeden Fall sieht es dem Mädchen in der anderen Geschichte total ähnlich. Da bist Du wohl sehr jung nach Australien ausgewandert. Ja wirklich Du solltest ein Buch schreiben, das würde bestimmt auch in der Schweiz auf Interesse stossen.
Jetzt muss ich aber schnell schlafen gehen, sonst ist dann die Nacht bald vorbei.
Liebe Grüsse in Deinen Morgen
Elfe
What an interesting story! Thank you. Really sweet.
Thanks for the visit..
I have gotten
the same feeling after reading yours..from childhood.
Perhaps women not, but men in many cultures tend to overcome, hide, feelings of tenderness, caring that make us good..human beings.
Lovely story. You have done Susie a big favour. She will remeber you.
What a lovely tale and yet so sad. You contributed to nature, and that's more imrpotant. Many thanks.
Greetings from London.
All lives are just a brief visit in this world. Be aware of the moment and we will be rich in mind and memories. I'm so greateful that I found you and your lovely toughtful blogs in cyberspace. Have a nice day!
Thank you Megha for your visit and kind comment.
Ray, nice to meet you and glad you left me a comment. I was anxious when she left. but we had such good times and fun together.
Neil, thank you for your comment, yes I hope so too.
Thank you Wilbo.
Liebe Elfe, ich danke dir herzlich fuer deinen Kommentar und deine Anteilnahme.
Thank you Barbee.
Antigonom thank you for such nice and kind words.
Thank you Diane, so kind.
A Cuban thank you for stopping by, good to hear from you.
Elisabeth thank you for your comment, I am glad too about the contact.
What an absolutely heart warming story. What a little cutie she was, your Suzie. I'm sure she has found a flock (is that the correct term) of her own and mothered many little joeys of her own.
We once had an injured squirrel baby that we raised the whole summer. Her little leg was slightly injured as she had afllen out of the nest but it healed well with a small stick bandaged to it. She lived on our hatrack because she was not happy lower down due to our dog. Seha used to jump down and climb on my head at times and boy were those claws sharp. We called her Elvira.
By the autumn she left but used to come back often to sit outside the house. We made a point of not giving her food in the end and eventually she dissapeared allthogether. I was only 11 yrs and how I missed the little Elvira with her bronzy coat.
Birds fallen out of their nest we reared too until they were ready to fly away a few times.
You can thus understand how I'm a sucker for stories like this.
Tarolino, yes I understand it shapes a child's life too, to be passionate about animals and help them if possible. It is also nice to know to be able to send them on their "wild" way again, so it is hard to let them go!
I have just visited you “Three Monkeys” blog and was admired with what I found there. And now, this is another incredible and wonderful story. The more I get to know you, through your beautiful blog sites, the more I admire you. You are really a great person.
MedaM, thank you so much for your kind words. I am glad that you enjoy my blogs.
This was a beautiful story of your oneness with nature.You did good I know it is hard when our babies grow wings! I like your spirit! hugs NG
How did you know she liked lemon juice?
You would make a good TV documentary with baby Susie and eventually having to accept that she was never coming home.
I love reading your blog.
Thank you NG for your kind comment.
Thank you Ann for stopping by. Lemon juice has basic, organic acid which helps with the digestion of food. You only use a few drops or a teaspoon full.
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