The remaking of things and foster care

Gracia Haby & Louise Jennison
NGV commission for Melbourne Now 2023
The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia
Friday 24th March – Sunday 20th August, 2023

As work continues on the details of our collage, The remaking of things, we take a moment to look back at those in our foster care in 2022; those who passed away; those who stayed for a short visit; those we knew briefly: thank-you. From Clover and Atlas at the beginning of the year that was to Fred and Pelé (currently in care), we owe so much to them. They’ve taught us so much. And they all feature in our collage in one way or another.

From finding browse that will tempt Myrlte the brushtail joey to eat (Willow Myrtle and Plumbago remain her favourites, followed by Manna Gum, and, of course, a sliver of almond as a treat), to being mindful that Twinkle the juvenile Lesser long-eared bat’s tummy stays inline with her ribs (concave is hungry; convex is too full), our daily schedule is orchestrated around their care.

To those we’ve cared for and since released, like Peanut the Bush rat (Rattus fuscipes) pup: travel well.

It was such a joy to get to know him, and learn how to care for him, with the help of Healesville Sanctuary. His appearance changed so much while in care, such is their cycle so different to our own. But releasing him was the sweetest experience, by far.

Before the Sun disappeared below the horizon, as most birds prepared for sleep, we released little Peanut. Fully weaned, after 14-days in foster care, he was ready, keen, and excited to explore. He sniffed the air through the lid of the crate, read the location. He pawed and darted, in his travel container, every part of him the embodiment of always alert, keen and excited. We opened the lid of the crate, one last time, and he considered the options before him, like the smart creature he is. He slowly climbed over the tilted lip of the crate and took lightly to the grass. It must have felt so nice underfoot. We thought he’d dart off out of our sight straight away, but of course, he is cleverer than that. He got his bearings, studied the scene, figured things out. He circled the crate, he began mapping his new world. He headed off for the safety of the leafy undergrowth. We sat, with our knees tucked up, and watched him explore his world. When he moved further in, we listened to his scampering sounds. He mapped out a circle of safe and familiar passages first, before radiating outward, forming an oval of recognition. He keep coming back to just near where we sat, and looked at us. He scanned an area to the left, comprehensively. He looped the area growing behind that. And we sat there watching his brilliance for 50 odd minutes, in awe and making sure he was okay. At which point, he came back, sniffed and almost climbed onto my open hand resting where we’d said goodbye. It felt like he was saying thank-you, I love this, and I’m going to be fine. And he will be fine. Very, very fine. We wish him a long, happy life.

To those we’ve soft released, like Violet, Ada, Agnès, and Hilda, we wish them the very best of days. We’ve since opened their soft release enclosure after repositioning the trailer so that they could easily make their exit when they were ready (it was originally positioned so as to protect them from the weather). We climbed the tree to which their tiny rope bridge connected, and left them a bed of Prunus in their original nest box to make their soft release that little bit more cushioned as the name suggests.

Ahead of their release, to beautiful grey box and red gum, we installed several nest boxes for Violet, Ada, Agnès, and Hilda, their descendants, and/or their neighbours. One apiece, should they need or wish to include it on their safe haven map. As ever-alert possums have more than one nesting site, they may include one of these nest boxes on their safe haven map, alongside a drey here and a drey there, a summer spot here and a rainy shelter there. Either way, they’ll have plenty of options, enabling them the best possible chance of a long, green life. Securing the nest boxes, it was lovely to see the healthy habitat that awaits them; to experience a little taste of the arboreal life that will be theirs, from high up on the ladder. Yes, they’re going to be very content there. Dislodged from the suburbs, once, to a plentiful home, now.

Thank-you Janine of Koala Clancy Foundation for your hard work and determination installing nest boxes, checking in on their movements, and for securing a safe haven for the quartet to thrive. We couldn’t have done any of this without you. Thank-you to the dedicated Koala Clancy volunteers who took such good care of Violet, Ada, Agnès, and Hilda, removing the spent forage, replacing it with fresh offerings, and supplying them with clean water. We enjoyed all of your updates, and have been so touched by everyone working to give them the best and most gentle chance. Thank-you to Pam and David for ensuing this quartet of ringies have a wonderful place in which to eke out a wild life; the sugar gums in the house paddock call out to them.

Thank-you to everyone who donated what they could to help us cover the costs of creating a soft release possum enclosure. With this enclosure, we'll be able to rescue and rehabilitate many more joeys, year after year, with an autumn 2023 release already in the planning. Thank-you to everyone who has enjoyed following their journey from orphan-in-care to soft release.

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 four beautiful ringtails we’ve been so lucky to know.

From Koala Clancy:

14th December, 2022: Possums still in trailer full-time, getting water, fresh local browse and weak milk supplement daily from our wonderful members Dorothy, Gloria & Peter, Rebecca and Caz. They are only eating the local eucalyptus now, both Grey Box Eucalyptus microcarpa and River Red Gum Eucalyptus camaldulensis. Over this short time (10 days), Bacchus Marsh Wattle Acacia verniciflua and Gold-dust and Golden Wattle A. acinacea and A. pycnantha have not been touched by them, nor has Dropping She-oak Allocasuarina verticillata.

19th December, 2022: The hatch was opened two days ago, and signs suggest that the possums went out to feed that night. Though some are still returning to sleep in the trailer nestbox, some seem to be spending the days in one of the four outside nestboxes. Only water is still being provided in the trailer, in the hope that the possums will adapt to the wild surroundings as soon as possible.

29th December, 2022: Two Ringtails were found snoozing in the trailer nestbox — Ada and Violet. Hilda was found in one of the wild nestboxes in a River Red Gum. She seems to be following Agnes’ lead, taking steps towards a truly wild life. This is real progress.

This season we will have raised six Grey-headed flying fox pups. Albert and Errol, Iggy and Soot (who arrived in care just before Christmas, underweight, dehydrated, and missing their mums), and Fred and Pelé (who were found at the Yarra Bend colony and after unsuccessful reunion attempts to locate their mums, came into care just before New Year’s Eve). While Fred and Pelé have since graduated to half-and-half (serves of steamed apple and raw apple) and to the outdoor enclosure, our first four orphan pups, Albert, Errol, Iggy, and Soot have graduated to pre-crèche at Bat Rescue Bayside. And when The remaking of things opens as part of Melbourne Now late March, all six of them will be at the soft release program by the banks of the Birrarung, ready to take to the sky. All things take time.

Image credit: Grace Cossington Smith, Kuringai Avenue, 1943 (which features, with permission, in our collage The remaking of things, 2023)