Since August
A soft curl of ringtail joeys
First came Ada, then came Agnès (after Varda).
Followed by Hilda and Hattie. Two sisters, almost identical from our visual perspective, but different in size. Hilda has a lightly striped, longer white tail tip, and at the time of her arrival, was slightly smaller than Hattie. As an ‘i’ is smaller than an ‘a’, she became Hilda, while she is in our care. After a series of days where it looked as though we might lose them, they managed to pull through. We gave them lectade in between formula feeds. We gave them strong names in the hope they’d make it.
Three separate rescues, four small orphans. They all lost their mums through cat and dog attacks, and while their mums didn’t make it, Ada, Agnès, Hattie, and Hilda did. It is always a lovely experience getting to know them, their individual temperaments. Seeing how they get along with each other. Seeing their different approaches. Seeing who will be the first to explore, and who will sleep in. Waiting while they groom themselves.
Sadly, sometimes the circle of care, for rescue and those that come into foster care, draws to a close sooner than we might have hoped. It is the nature of the reason wildlife comes into care in the first place: trauma. Not all of the ringtail joeys we took on, through either Wildlife Victoria and Warriors 4 Wildlife, this late winter, early spring, made it. Pearl, Minnie, Ida, and Walt sadly passed away.
To Ida (Down), a little ringtail, snug as a bug beneath a rug of fellow joeys; Minnie, a ringtail full of humour, confidence and spark; Petal, a third little rosy-hued ringtail with ears like tufted petals (pictured below); and Walt, the tiniest of them all, always content to go with the flow: we’re glad you are no longer in pain.
Next to the quartet came Violet from Footscray Park. She was only going to stay overnight, but things don’t always turn out as you might expect. Violet moved in, and all five possums, Ada, Agnès, Violet, Hattie, and Hilda continue to do well, though the business of weighing five of them is a slow (and enjoyable) one.
They’ve since moved to the outdoor enclosure, our deluxe new possum home-until-we-help-you-find-a-home-of-your-own, where they can grow in confidence as they learn new things. They leap from branch to branch with the greatest of agility, and grow more possum-y by the day.
They make light work of prunis, and especially love banksia ‘corn cobs’ and fluffy tips, grevillea in flower, and any of the many varieties of tea-tree.
Ada, Agnès, and Violet will hopefully all be ready for a mid- to late-November release. We have purchased a shiny, small trailer to form the base of their soft release enclosure. We’ve had a tow bar installed on our car. And, just like the modified trailer that accommodated Atlas and Clover earlier in the year, we’ll have our own soft release portable enclosure fashioned from a former bird aviary welded to the top of the trailer. Inside the enclosure, along the covered in, protected wall, there will be a ledge for them, a nesting box, and water. And fresh forage will be supplied to them daily. A mix of our locally sourced forage that they love, and new forage from the area they will be being released in: their new wild home.
Ada, Agnès, and Violet can’t be returned to the place where they were each rescued as being little joeys it was not their territory, but their mum’s. So we have to find them new territory. Somewhere where there is enough food and space.
Our front room studio has been home to quite a few ringtails this year, by our standards. From a visiting sextet (two groups of three) to our existing quintet, we’ve recently added a quartet. Noodles, Sid, Feeney, and Finnius will be staying with us while they are small. And when the all reach 250 grams they’ll move to an outdoor enclosure at South Oakleigh Wildlife Shelter for the next part of their journey.
Getting to know these ringtails, and the occasional microbat recently, like Lois, a Lesser long-eared bat, and Luna, a Gould’s wattled bat, and even an Eastern spinebill, and an Eastern long-necked turtle for the briefest of spells (as part of two return to habitat cases for Warriors 4 Wildlife and Wildlife Victoria respectively) is an absolute joy. From being responsible for our pets’ actions (cats indoors, dogs on leads) to walking through a nursing colony quietly and looking out for wildlife when driving, we all need to be mindful of our actions when occupying or passing through some of the few green areas ‘our’ wildlife have left.
To all of them, we wish them long green lives.
Image credit: Gracia Haby & Louise Jennison, Bracketed by light (detail), 2022, artists’ book (of small illuminations of crepuscular and nocturnal inhabitants, and one or two besides)