The softest of releases
Five months, flew
After five months in our care, Ada, Agnès, Hilda, and Violet are now in their purpose built, predator proof soft release enclosure on a private property that is part of an important green corridor from the You Yangs.
Agnès might typically have been last to leave the nest box, in our outdoor enclosure at our home, but she was the first out of the travel basket, and the first to fully explore her new surrounds in the soft release enclosure. She explored every branch, right down to the trailer floor, before heading back up the branch. Hilda headed into the nest box and popped her head out, before sitting on the small ledge by its entrance. Violet had a drink before heading to the lid of the nest box, where he hopped into the fresh forage we’d brought with us. They have enough of our forage for four days, stored in buckets of water alongside the trailer, and this will be mixed with forage from around them in what will be their new, green home. Parked alongside a five-year-old koala tree planting that connects to mature trees and beyond, they will have such a wonderful future, and their many descendants. On a growing ever greener property in Balliang, Victoria, there is plenty for them to eat, and plenty of space for them to spread out and thrive.
Ada was the most hesitant to leave the travel basket, but once she did, she popped up onto the roof of the nest box with Violet, and together they munched on the forage that was placed so as to give them a feeling of safety and security. As the day was such a hot day, it is lovely that they have the rooftop of the nest box as a protected area. We placed several ice packs in the small gap between the internal wall of the enclosure and their nest box, as a precaution, and the forecast for the week ahead is a kind one for them as they adjust to their new surroundings.
With their soft release enclosure on the edge of lush and dense planting which leads to mighty red gums, when it comes time to open the hatch (the lidded tunnel of down pipe that sticks out of the back wall), we will thread the rope from a tall tree in which their original nest box is attached in readiness, down into their enclosure. We will need to angle the trailer so it is easy for them to see the safety and familiarity of their former nest box and when they’re ready, they’ll be able to scurry along. This will mean that they’ll will not need to touch the ground (where they are not safe from predators like foxes or feral cats). The nesting box, like the soft release enclosure presently, is facing east (because most cold weather comes from the south), and they can stay there until they get their footing. Perhaps Hilda might move in there and take it for her home. Perhaps she’ll prefer to make a drey. We’ll never know, but we do know that they are in the best possible place. Being orphans, they have no territory of their own. Not until now, that is.
As the quartet get their bearings in the enclosure (for ten to fourteen days, depending upon how they adjust), sniffing their new surrounds, munching on Prunus (non native) and Willow myrtle, Coastal tea tree and assorted eucalyptus leaves, they’ll have each other, so they’re going to be just fine.
And they have a kind and dedicated band of volunteers looking after them. Each day, a volunteer will come by to remove any eaten foliage and replenish it with new cuttings from the area they’re being released into, and top up their water vessels.
We are so incredibly grateful to Janine of Koala Clancy and all of the Koala Clancy members who will be taking on this vital role. And we are so grateful to the owners of the property who are giving over their land to replanting and ensuring that Ada, Violet, Hilda, and Agnès have the best possible chance at a wonderful, long, and healthy life. We couldn’t do it without you. Perhaps Sid, Feeney, Finnius, and Noodles will be the next quartet of ‘ringies’ to be soft released in the spring.
We are so grateful to Bev and Paul of Bat Rescue Bayside, who helped build our soft-release possum enclosure by modifying a fowl house and securing it to a trailer, in readiness for its maiden voyage. Thank-you Paul for your expertise and enthusiasm in manipulating, strengthening, stabilising, and securing our straight out of a storybook structure for Ada, Agnès, Hilda, and Violet. Thank-you for taking a side door and making it a back door, so that Koala Clancy volunteers will be able to hop in and out to top up the enclosure with fresh eucalyptus boughs. For installing a PVC release tube, and stabilising the enclosure to the trailer base so that it couldn’t blow off when we are on the road.
Thank-you Michele of South Oakleigh Wildlife Shelter for the possum boxes, and teaching us how to run our own soft-release program for possums. We made our enclosure exactly like your one in which Atlas and Clover were released earlier in the year. Thanks Bev, Paul, and Michele; we couldn’t have dreamt or made this without your skill, encouragement, labour, and knowledge.
Since 2016, the Koala Clancy Foundation have planted 80,761 trees in the You Yangs and East Gippsland regions of Victoria for koalas and other wildlife, like these beautiful ringtails we’ve been so lucky to know.
If you can, please consider making a donation to support our possum soft release program with Koala Clancy. Thank-you to everyone who has made a donation.
Learn more about Ada, Agnès, Hilda and Violet’s soft release with Koala Clancy:
Ada, Agnès, Hilda, and Violet came into care after they lost their mums through traumatic cat and dog attacks, through separate Wildlife Victoria and Warriors 4 Wildlife rescues. As the reason they ended up in care is harrowing, to them, and upsetting, to us, it is an especially rewarding experience to help this quartet of joeys as they transition into wonderfully healthy juveniles ready for soft release with Koala Clancy. During their months in care, they reveal a little more of their distinct personalities as they grow.
Ada
Gentle-natured Ada was the first of the group to come into our care, and, to our eyes, she assumed the role of calm ‘big sister’ to those who came after her. As a joey, she would like to groom and scratch her dense and splendid coat before feeding, reminding us of a truism learnt through wildlife care: ‘never rush a possum’; it is better to let them ‘do’ and ‘be’ in their own ‘possum time’. Sweet, round-eared Ada is the teacher of the quartet. In the beginning, she would hold her tail in a tight coil when not using it to grip. She loves to quietly eat the fresh green tips of new growth from atop the nesting box alongside Violet.
Agnès
Next came ‘old soul’ Agnès. Initially, she might appear the more reserved of the group, but when she arrives, in her own good time to the gathering, she is always the last to leave and quite carefree. To us, she has the most theatrical range of expressions and mannerisms as she takes in her surroundings as she feeds on the spider-like flowers of a grevillea. She has a wonderful long nose, in profile, and she has a wise air to her. Like Ada, she is good-natured and good-humoured.
Hilda
Ada and Agnès were followed by Hilda. She joined the family with her sister Hattie who sadly did not make it. Hilda and Hattie were so alike in ways and appearance, save for their distinguishing tail tips, that it was hard to tell them apart. Hilda may be the littlest of the quartet, but she is by far the pluckiest and most adventurous. At present, she likes to lean out of the nesting box and grab hold of fresh foliage as their outdoor enclosure is replenished. She will remain at the entrance hole, munching away concededly, seemingly oblivious to the bank of possums queuing behind her. She is inquisitive from nose to tail tip and remains ever recognisable by her ‘bed head’ and spark.
Violet
Lastly, Violet joined the family as an older joey. He came into care with a sore right eye, which healed with treatment and time. Looking at his bright eyes now, it is hard to recall, such has been his recovery. He is gentle and generous, like his new family group. He can be quite cautious when we see him during the day, but he is relaxed and kind, and always checks on the others. He is the wellbeing balm. His coat has retained its peach tint, and he is just that, a plush mellow peach.
Image credit: Eugène von Guérard, View of Geelong, 1856
