Many and varied animals such as kangaroos, wallabies, possums, native birds, and even fish, turtles and lizards, have been treated by the dedicated McGregor Veterinary Clinic team.

I.O.W.A. (Injured and Orphaned Wildlife Assistance)and F.A.W.N.A. (Fostering and Assistance for Wildlife Needing Aid) are two organisations of wildlife carers who regularly work, in conjunction with the clinic, to rehabilitate injured and orphaned fauna.

This kangaroo joey is being cared for by Leslie, one of the many kind FAWNA members who regularly attend the Clinic. She has deep wounds on both hocks after being caught in a wire fence for several days. Hopefully she will be able to be released back into the wild when she is fully recovered.

A Day in the Life of a Wildlife Carer

We are a voluntary organisation and we avail ourselves to the public 24 hours a day. Donations are our only source of financial support. Without the voluntary assistance of the vets and staff at McGregor Veterinary Clinic, we would not be able to function efficiently. Their valuable support is gratefully appreciated.

A typical day looks somewhat like this:-

3.00am
Frantic, loud knocking at the front door. Notice bright lights shining through bedroom curtains. Thinking to myself as I hurriedly get dressed, "Only cops call at this time." Sure enough, when I open the front door, 'Mr Plod' is standing there. All sorts of nasties flash through my mind but very quickly he informs me that he has a badly burnt Black Swan in the back of the divie van. Administer basic first aid and return to bed.

5.00am
Alarm goes off - time to feed the joeys again.

5.30am
Cyclist knocking at my door informs me that there is a large kangaroo in the park opposite my place with a broken leg. I go and check out the poor fellow; he's too big for me to tackle; ring the cops on my mobile phone and request they come and shoot the big buck. **See footnote

6.15am
Return home, make coffee for myself and finish feeding joeys. Check swan and Tawney Frogmouth (an owl-like bird).

7.00am
Make another coffee, and check all other animals in care. eg. Barn Owls, Boobook Owls, Kestrals, Black Cockatoos, various species of wild ducks and parrots, reptiles, etc.

7.45am
Wake human children, make lunches, etc.

8.00am
Phone rings - lady has a parrot that her cat has caught. I ask her to bring it to my place.

8.05
Wake humans again. Make another coffee.

8.30
Say goodbye to humans for the day.

9.00am
Feed joeys again.

10.00am
Feed and medicate animals/birds that require it.

10.30am
Go to vets with swan and froggy (ie. frogmouth). Help with necessary surgery and have a cup of coffee.

12.00 noon
Home; four messages on answering machine. One asking me to go and catch a bird flying around their chain store!!! I'm not superwoman as I inform them. The next had 4 unwanted kittens. Sorry, I'm a wildlife carer - take them to the vets to be euthanased, I suggest.
Then, could I go locally and collect a marsupial? Yep, no problem! I arrive there to be greeted by the ABC film crew. The 'marsupial' was ratus ratus - a common black rat!!!
The last is a request for me to post 3kg's of joey powdered milk to another wildlife carer in Ravensthorpe down near Esperance. Done.

2.30pm
Feed joeys again.

3.30pm
Phone call from local golf course; could I go and collect a young possum that had been found on the ground. Arrive there to be greeted by a noisy, young male possum. Once I'm home, I administer electrolytes and put him in a warm bed.

4.30pm till whenever
Prepare various diets etc, for the numerous creatures that are here in care.
Humans begin to arrive home. Good - now I can have some help. Everyone seems to ring at this time to get progress reports on wildlife that they have brought to me. Sometimes, it's good news, sometimes it's bad. I don't like the bad news calls because people seem to think I am "God" and can fix everything!!
Feed animals, clean cages, etc.

7.00pm
Tea time for humans

8.00pm
Feed joeys and possum. I'm feeling pretty tired now.

9.00pm
Doze off in lounge chair - dream that tomorrow will be less hectic.

12.00 midnight
Last feed for the joeys and possums and then drag myself off to the comfort of my bed.

**NOTE:
In most cases when an undomesticated adult kangaroo is badly injured, it is kindest to destroy it. Adult kangaroos are BIG animals - up to 6-7 feet tall. They are strong and dangerous. They don't adapt at all well to captivity, becoming extrememly stressed if captured. More often than not, this leads to a condition called Capture Myopathy, which is fatal.