This little joey was found on the side of the road next to her dead mother by a bloke I worked with. I took it home to our MQ in Tindal and enquired at the local Vet how to look after her. the local Vet advised it was a female antilopine and supplied us with a milk mixture to feed her with. I took her home found a bag and hung it from the back of a chair to act as a pouch. I had to feed her every two hours and also toilet her, which consists of rubbing the anus until she had a poo, much like a mother roo would.
We named her Molly, Molly was a contrary thing, made me work hard in trying to feed her, refusing the teat and taking ages to feed and toilet her. She grew quite quickly and when she got frisky would hop around the yard at full speed until tired then crawl into her pouch which we kept in the loungeroom. Looking at the only picture I had of Molly, she didn't resemble an Antilopine at all, more like a Western grey.
At the time we also had Stub a Smithfield Healer, Scruffy a Yorky X and George the sulphur crested cockatoo. Scruffy was an interesting fellow, we'd take him and Stub down to the local creek and both Scruffy and Stub would both make a beeline for the water where both would swim around for hours, but Scruffy would actually swim underwater. George thought he was the boss and walked around the yard and patio terrifying poor old Scruffy and Molly biting their tails. George would walk up to Stub and there they would face off, nose to beak, neither game to have a go at the other, George because he probably didn't want his head removed and Stub because I told him not to bite, they had a very uneasy relationship. George spent very little time in the cage I built for him, instead following me wherever I went, perching on my foot whenever I stopped. When I sat he would stand on my shoulder. In the workshop he perched on top of the pedestal drill and copied the noises the machinery made.
I let him climb a tall tree we had in the backyard everyday where he'd sit until I called him down, A time or two he took to the wing from high in the tree and disappeared. One day I got a call from a bloke in the next street saying George was walking up and down the street yelling out obscenities, no idea where he learnt to swear like that and no idea how the bloke new to call me.
The Firies on the base trapped a Dingo pup that was running around the taxiway one day, I rescued her from the Firies who didn't know what to do with her, took her home and kennelled her in an area I set aside for her in the back yard and called her Lucy. Unfortunately, Lucy was too wild and couldn't be befriended so I took her out the back of the base and set her free. But, Lucy kept returning to the area and eventually mated with some of the pet dogs in the MQ patch. She eventually had a litter of pups which she brought around to the area when they were old enough, but one by one they died I assumed as they stopped accompanying her. Eventually, she became a pest and residents complained she was attacking their pet dogs, so I trapped her, took her further afield and let her loose, she was never seen again.
We were posted overseas not long after, so I looked around for homes for our animals. Molly and George went a good home at the local kennels out in the bush by the low level, sadly Molly was run over I heard and lost one of her legs, but got around Ok and hung around the kennel. George as it turned out was actually Georgina, she lived a life of freedom walking around the kennel area annoying all animals great and small. I heard the kennel owners eventually sold up and moved to QLD. I never heard any more of Molly or George, hopefully they led long and happy lives.
Not so for Stubb and Scruffy, try as I may, I couldn't find homes for either and so a few days before departing for Malaysia I had both euthanised. A sad day, both were around 10 at this stage. I carried both of their bodies out bush, dug a hole, buried them and cried over their graves. Many years later I was posted to Darwin, so took the time out a couple of times to drive the 300 KLMs South to Katherine and visit their graves.
We named her Molly, Molly was a contrary thing, made me work hard in trying to feed her, refusing the teat and taking ages to feed and toilet her. She grew quite quickly and when she got frisky would hop around the yard at full speed until tired then crawl into her pouch which we kept in the loungeroom. Looking at the only picture I had of Molly, she didn't resemble an Antilopine at all, more like a Western grey.
At the time we also had Stub a Smithfield Healer, Scruffy a Yorky X and George the sulphur crested cockatoo. Scruffy was an interesting fellow, we'd take him and Stub down to the local creek and both Scruffy and Stub would both make a beeline for the water where both would swim around for hours, but Scruffy would actually swim underwater. George thought he was the boss and walked around the yard and patio terrifying poor old Scruffy and Molly biting their tails. George would walk up to Stub and there they would face off, nose to beak, neither game to have a go at the other, George because he probably didn't want his head removed and Stub because I told him not to bite, they had a very uneasy relationship. George spent very little time in the cage I built for him, instead following me wherever I went, perching on my foot whenever I stopped. When I sat he would stand on my shoulder. In the workshop he perched on top of the pedestal drill and copied the noises the machinery made.
I let him climb a tall tree we had in the backyard everyday where he'd sit until I called him down, A time or two he took to the wing from high in the tree and disappeared. One day I got a call from a bloke in the next street saying George was walking up and down the street yelling out obscenities, no idea where he learnt to swear like that and no idea how the bloke new to call me.
The Firies on the base trapped a Dingo pup that was running around the taxiway one day, I rescued her from the Firies who didn't know what to do with her, took her home and kennelled her in an area I set aside for her in the back yard and called her Lucy. Unfortunately, Lucy was too wild and couldn't be befriended so I took her out the back of the base and set her free. But, Lucy kept returning to the area and eventually mated with some of the pet dogs in the MQ patch. She eventually had a litter of pups which she brought around to the area when they were old enough, but one by one they died I assumed as they stopped accompanying her. Eventually, she became a pest and residents complained she was attacking their pet dogs, so I trapped her, took her further afield and let her loose, she was never seen again.
We were posted overseas not long after, so I looked around for homes for our animals. Molly and George went a good home at the local kennels out in the bush by the low level, sadly Molly was run over I heard and lost one of her legs, but got around Ok and hung around the kennel. George as it turned out was actually Georgina, she lived a life of freedom walking around the kennel area annoying all animals great and small. I heard the kennel owners eventually sold up and moved to QLD. I never heard any more of Molly or George, hopefully they led long and happy lives.
Not so for Stubb and Scruffy, try as I may, I couldn't find homes for either and so a few days before departing for Malaysia I had both euthanised. A sad day, both were around 10 at this stage. I carried both of their bodies out bush, dug a hole, buried them and cried over their graves. Many years later I was posted to Darwin, so took the time out a couple of times to drive the 300 KLMs South to Katherine and visit their graves.
