Until the new guys get established we thought it would be good
if we used one page to introduce you to all the new kids in care.

As they get older they will each go to their own page.

So far we have done 3 of the new kids Tales - 3 more to go, Tommy, Pipit and Marlu.
We hope you enjoy meeting them.

Just before we were due to start our Annual General meeting,
on Saturday 30th September 2006, our kitchen filled
with joeys, possums and birds brought in by our vet, Jules.

Luckily we found home for all the joeys, except one.

Oscar was orphaned the day before
when his mother was killed in a road accident on a mine site.
Her joey was taken to the local veterinary clinic,
and then brought to us.

We were very busy at that time.
The day of the charity meeting was chaotic,
but having an influx of new animals and birds
we spent then next few days making sure they were properly housed.

About 4 days later we realised that one young joey,
that was supposed to be moving on to new carers,
had sort of 'slipped under the door'.

Oscar was feeling quite at home
with his new friends.

To make it worse one young student, William,
had fallen totally in love with our new joey.

So another new joey joined the Gang.

Oscar settled into life at Roo Gully very well indeed.

He quite liked snuggling up with Arnie on the couch.

Then Oscar met Pipit,
our very friendly young Western Brush wallaby joey.

She is a very loving little wallaby
who just loves meeting newcomers.

 

At first he tried to ignore her.

Before long Pipit was walking all over him.

And after we were all left thinking if Oscar was asking us,
'Hey, who is this kid with the weird stripes on her face?'

Oscar soon found out that some other Roo Gully residents
could be a little bit 'friendly' too.

Although it was Oscar who first approached Arnie.

So what does a macho guy do in this kind of situation?

Well, he simply allows his body to 'express' his feelings!

And poor Arnie,
smelling the whiff, certainly got the message.

Like all young joeys Oscar was a little nervous when he first arrived.

He was reluctant to be alone.

But his confidence grew quickly
and he now loves his walks around the sanctuary
often leading the way home.

Smelling the flowers.

And his bottles of milk.

Which means he spills milk on his lips.

Oscar is a very amusing young joey, and we are pleased to say
that some of his funny expressions have been captured on camera for you to enjoy.

Sadly, though, life is not all good for Oscar.

Although he feeds well, and is putting on weight,
he seems to be growing tall and skinny.

At first we just thought this was his body build
because we have discovered over the years of raising joeys
that Western Grey kangaroos are either tall and slender or short and dumpy.

...he would lay down at every opportunity.

These revealed that Oscar was passing just a little too much protein
which could suggest he has a kidney problem.

We discussed this with Jules, our vet, who also examined him.

In the meantime Oscar appears to be quite well.

He enjoys being outside with the others

That is as long as there is somewhere comfy
to have a lie down when he feels like it.

Bindi arrived in the arms of a distraught couple
on, Thursday, the 4th September 2006.

Her mum had been raised by them
and still visited their property every day.

As did all the other roos they had raised over the past 15 years.

Then Bindi's older brother came home without his mum.

Sadly her body was discovered
on a near by road.

His young sister was inside the pouch.

After years of raising joeys
the couple decided they could no longer face the heartache
that often comes with caring for animals.
And so brought Bindi to Roo Gully.

Their only request was that she be called Bindi,
in honour of the late Steve Irwin's daughter.

Like all orphaned joeys Bindi was quite nervous
when she first explored her new home.

But we all fell in love with her
when she gave us one of her quirky looks.

Bindi quickly settled into life at Roo Gully,
and soon made some new friends

She liked lying with Pipit,
our Western Brush wallaby joey.

She became a favourite
with all the volunteers and students.

But Bindi's favourite human is Sandra,
one of our Dutch volunteers.

It wasn't long before Bindi was taken outside.

It was a scary new world,
but Sandra gave her a reassuring cuddle.

...she set off for her first hop.

Bindi is an amusing young joey.

And she loves a good roo scratch.

The young joeys are now being taught the geography of Roo Gully,
ready for the day they join the main mob.

Bindi was unsure when she first saw the creek.

So she has taken on the role of sentry,
always watching to make sure her little group is safe.

Which we are sure they will be,
because Bindi takes her assumed role very seriously indeed.

Arnie's mother was shot on the night of the 23rd August 2006.
A guy apparently shot many roos,
leaving their bodies to rot where they had dropped.
And he didn't check any pouches for joeys,
something that is a legal requirement of all shooters in WA,
but difficult to police in the Australian bush, which to all animal lovers is tragic.

15 hours later neighbouring farmers climbed the fence
and grabbed 2 dead roos to feed their dogs.
Arnie was discovered shivering in one of the pouches.

After a phone call to Roo Gully
Arnie started life with us on the 24th August,
arriving as a very cold and frightened young roo
that had yet to grow his fur.

Arnie did well after his initial 24 hours in our humidicrib to warm him up,
and a few days later we decided to take him down to meet his future mob.

Abby was very interested
to meet this newcomer.

As was Leila.

And as usual Molly needed to see
whether the new kid was a boy or a girl!

Then Arnie met Bron, our Kindergarten teacher.

For many years Bron has looked after the new kids
but we wondered how she would react once she had her new joey.
Did she take on her role because she yearned her own joey?
Or was she really our Kindergarten teacher?

To our surprise Bron took a genuine interest in young Arnie,
and he quite liked her.

Bron even gave him a Roo Gully welcome hug.

And then she remembered her own boy in her pouch.

Arnie was very surprised ...

And young Jasper was equally surprised
to see who his mum had been hugging.

Despite his young age on arrival Arnie continued to thrive and grow.

Even though she was bigger than him
he tried very hard to show Bindi it was not such
a scary world at Roo Gully when she first came into care.

All was going well for Arnie - maybe too well!
Because a few weeks later he hopped
the wrong way on the lawn and SNAP - he fractured a bone in his foot!!!

Poor Arnie.

He suffered a terrible indignity when a bald headed, bearded guy examined him.

That bald headed, bearded guy
just happened to be our vet, Jules!

Then so did Arnie!!

But Arnie needn't have worried about the diagnosis.
Jules said it was not that serious.

In fact Arnie didn't even need a plaster cast.

And then Arnie was offered his toe.

Phew! His first meeting with the vet was over!

Then it was time for bed
with his favourite student - Laura..

Which Arnie thought was OK, as long as he could suck that toe!!

So as Arnie says
'Watch this Space mates, because "I'll be back" with another adventure!'

'And despite what these pictures show
I wasn't that frightened of that vet!!'

Until next time eh Arnie!

Breaking News © Roo Gully 2006

Photos courtesy of Roo Gully, Ian Henderson, William Oliver, Laura Keighley,
Sandra van der Poel, Susanne Kessens, and Bindi's first human parents.