One year
Tiny but Wild turns one
December highlights, as Tiny but Wild, our home-based wildlife shelter turns one, including a second outdoor possum enclosure for Bill Berry and Jean, thanks to Warriors 4 Wildlife; releasing Balcony Boy, Horace, who did a u-turn as he flew off, and for a brief moment looked like a stingray swimming through the air; Fred pairing up with Umi-pup , exploring the world one flap at a time; and Mr Velveteeny, an adult male Grey-headed flying fox, and our last case for 2024, soft like said Velveteen rabbit, the 1922 children's novel by Margery Williams, but also something of an escape artist.
We recently finished constructing our second Tiny but Wild possum enclosure, and the third in our back garden, in the last spot we could eke out, before the back gate. It is a construction tall and robust, shiny and new, perfect for joeys, Bill and Jean, to grow and scamper in, in readiness for their soft release in March of this year.
Pictured below, the many steps assembling Bill and Jean’s new castle, from its initial delivery in five large panels to installing mesh on the back wall and ceiling, and threading the rope through and around the branches we had collected for this very purpose from the Koala Clancy soft release site. Drilling on the roof panel was a particularly satisfying step of this fiddly construction when working in such a tight space.
Bill and Jean have since settled in, beneath the protective boughs of the olive tree. When we checked on them in the early evening, on their first night, they stuck their noses out of each hole of their new nesting box, and the enormity of the experience could be felt in those two tiny peaks. As they took in their surrounds, we wished them well. In the neighbouring bat enclosure, the adults could be heard eating their fruit salads, and in the original possum enclosure, alongside the house, the OGs could be heard awakening for their feast.
Our trail cam footage also revealed that they explore near every inch at night. As we sleep, they dangle, sniff, leap, twirl, chomp, and scamper like the “noccies”* they are. Our back garden full of nocturnal inhabitants, as ever, the camera reveals a world we know little about, but delight in all the same.
*pronounced like Gnocchi, our nickname for the nocturnal sweethearts currently in our care
This Steel Chief enclosure would not be possible without the incredible financial support of Warriors 4 Wildlife, who generously funded the entire enclosure. Thank-you to everyone at @warriors4wildlife for making this possible.
Rewind: Tiny but Wild, est. January 2024
Support
If you would like to support our Tiny but Wild wildlife shelter, you can make a donation here.
If you would like to make a browse donation, please get in touch with us. There is always a bucket on our front verandah in readiness to receive sprays of plumbago, still-red prunus, red-flowering grevillea, lemon myrtle or other such delights.
Another very exciting way you can support us is through the Australian Jazz Museum and their brand new recording, also called Tiny but Wild. We loved creating the artwork for this, and we are moon-leaping, overjoyed by this new venture.
Please head to australianjazzmuseum.bandcamp.com
to pre-order, and “get 20 tracks now and the full album on February 1, 2025 from the Australian Jazz Museum’s Tiny but Wild album”.
@australianjazzmuseum:
“Exciting new release!
Tiny but Wild is an eclectic album of Australian jazz, compiled by the Australian Jazz Museum, with the goal of showcasing contemporary, original, Australian jazz.
Custom artwork for this project was created and donated by Melbourne artists Gracia & Louise. The Australian Jazz Museum will donate profits from the project to support their wildlife rescue cause, Tiny but Wild.”
Image credit: Oti in a pouch about to be weighed, alongside Toffee and Marble. This trio will head to South Oakleigh Wildlife Shelter in late January, when they are ready for an outdoor space like Bill and Jean. It has been a pleasure getting to know this trip of joeys.
