February 2012 - WILDLIFE A.R.Cwildlife-arc.org.au/newsletters/ARC complimentary... · ·...

February 2012

Wildlife Tales is the official newsletter of

Wildlife Animal Rescue & Care Society Inc. ABN: 40 155 085 169

Post Office Box 2308 Gosford NSW 2250

Phone: 4325 0666 (24 HOURS) EMAIL: [email protected] WEB ADDRESS: www.wildlife-arc.org.au

NEXT MEETINGS: Sunday 19th Febrary at 1pm Sunday 18th March at 1pm

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It is amazing! Spurred on by Katie Bell, Kathy Varman, Pattie Ryan and Mandy Griffith there has been an amazing effort made over the last month to fix up Wambina. It was so depressing. Decay had set in. The kitchen where we cut up the bat food was mouldy and we had a python falling through the ceiling (such as it was). While the big flight cage was showing signs of age, with the make-shift repairs made over the last 20 odd years all starting to disintegrate. Now, it is all different. The kitchen looks splendiferous: clean and shiny with a proper ceiling. As one of the cutters said “It’s too clean to cut up bat fruit in it. I might smudge something!”. It is truly lovely and so much better to work in. Many, many, thanks to everyone involved especially Greg and Kathy Varman, Ray Holwell and Pattie Ryan. Then Mandy Griffith, a vet nurse from Sydney, who has been known to release bats with us, decided to organize a cage fixing day. So up she came to Wambina with co-workers Margaret and Marina and a truck-load of “fixing materials”. Helen, a photographic artist who happened to be checking out our bats for a photo-shoot, got press-ganged into the refit and ARC members, Tristan Varman and Sue Preston pitched in to help as well. It was a great day. We removed the dodgy dividing wall between the Release and Flight Cage and replaced it with a shiny new wire wall complete with a hatch for moving bats from one side to another. We covered the rough parts of the cage wire with tough plastic and we sorted out the netting on the top of the cage. The bats were very impressed! The result is a lot safer for the bats and looks so much better, many thanks to all the people involved (and cable ties). So here we have a sparkling kitchen and a better cage just in time for our peak number of bats. Yes it is coming to that time of year when baby bats are old enough to be released. They will be coming in, in dribs and drabs over the next couple of months and we will be releasing them when they are competent. Of course until that time we will have to feed them. So we need more volunteers to work in our lovely kitchen to feed our bats. Please, if you have any free time, to cut fruit or pick up donated fruit from supermarkets contact Jan, on 0243250505. Remember many hands make light work.

Kerryn

VIEW FROM THE CHAIR

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No, this isn't going to be a depressing story about 'putting down', but an uplifting one about 'putting up'. I'm talking about the transformation of the shed cutting area that has amazed, delighted and been a real boost all who work there feeding the flying-foxes. On New Year's Day, Team Transformers: aka Kathy, Pattie and Greg set to with cleaning instruments and masses of elbow grease and started the transformation of the shed cutting area. In terms of turning over new leaves, their 'new leaf' looked amazing with the mould and grime gone, though they couldn't do anything then with the tattered, sagging silver insulation (?) that still hung, sword of Damoclese like over all who worked there. That was just the start. Next Greg came back with his tins of paint and rollers and brushes. The room had now morphed into a very pretty pale green space, with darker green doors. The amazing Ray followed to fix the roof and ceiling. The drooping, dying insulation that the snake looked as though it was going to fall through one day as I was cutting fruit (much to my consternation…I'm a wuss), disappeared and together with Greg, he put up a solid, snake-impermable, new ceiling. [Jessi speaks fondly of the day when she was busy cutting, felt that something was watching her, looked up and found the big diamond python that is the resident rat-exterminator, observing her. Perhaps she'll miss the snake poking his/her head through the holey, silver ceiling; I won't.] Now, thanks to Pattie, there's a fabulous concrete path to the shed door, (a real godsend in this wet and soggy weather),and then you open the door into a green dream. The Wildlife ARC carers really do care for all creatures.

Sue Preston

GREEN DREAM

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Hi everyone, We currently have four swamp wallabies, one red neck wallaby and one wallaroo about to go on soft release. Well done Leyla Moncelet for raising the lovely Barley a picture of health he is and rearing to go. If you are interested in being a rescue carer of macropods give me a call it is a time consuming thing but very rewarding. We will hopefully have a combined possum/macropod training day coming up so stay tuned. Kind regards Sharron jones Macropod head carer.

MACROPOD REPORT

MENTORS

The Bird, Possum and Reptile sections at the moment don’t have a Head Carer. We are trying a mentor system. On the back page listed are the mentors and their contact details. If you want to know the job description of a mentor please go to the webpage in the members section and that will let you know just how we are running these sections. If you have any queries regarding this please don’t hesitate to contact a mentor.

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Last November, Debbie Macsimovic was announced as the Volunteer of the Month by local radio station 96.3. Somebody nominated her for the award, others voted for her and suddenly to her surprise she was it! Amid many congratulations, a beautiful bunch of flowers was delivered to her house. It was great to see her acknowledged. Debbie has been working for the native animals on the Central Coast for many, many years. She joined the ARC in 1987 and so has one of the lowest ARC membership numbers (5!) but even before this she and her two small children used to patrol the around the shores of The Entrance every morning looking for snarls of fishing line and injured, sick or entangled birds. Currently Debbie is the head of our Sea Bird rescue unit. She is involved in “the feed” at the Entrance and regularly jumps on pelicans in the water there to catch them, if she sees they have fishing gear stuck in them or entangling them. She is expert in removing hooks from Pelicans! However she does work with other animals. She has been a long term helper at Wambina and is well known by our flying-foxes. The other day when I was talking to her she said, “Look what I found on the way here”. She had picked up an adult bandicoot and 5 babies that had been spilled across the road. Sadly they were all dead, killed by a car that didn’t bother to stop. Debbie couldn’t bear to leave them on the side of the road. So they will be going to the Australian Museum to form part of their collection. So Debbie is one of the ARC’s stalwarts. She is always ready to help the native animals on the Central Coast: ready to check the pouch of a possum killed on the road or plunge her hand down the throat of a pelican to remove an embedded hook. It is great to have her on board.

Kerryn Over the last month some big changes have been made at Wambina. Firstly Patti, Kathy and Greg scraped , washed and cleaned the walls and doors of the Shed. Secondly Greg then painted the room. Thirdly Greg and Ray Holwell replaced the roof and lined the ceiling. Please accept thanks for this and please anybody who wishes to see the work please come and have a look and maybe help cut, dish up and hang up the fruit. The bats would really appreciate this

Jan Brazel

VOLUNTEER OF THE MONTH

2012 SPONSOR OF WILDLIFE ARC

A THANK YOU TO SOME SPECIAL VOLUNTEERS

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Born September, 1993 died 20th January. 2012 – Aged 19 years

It is with great sadness that I advise the passing of Marley. She came to the ARC on the 29th November, 1993 as an orphan from the Gordon Bat Colony. She was rescued by ARC members Bronwyn and David Wood, Sue McPherson and Debbie Breen. She weighed 180grams and her forearm measured 120mm. She was raised by Michaela and Jan Brazel and after failing release she made her home at Wambina where she became a well known boarder. Over the years she produced many babies and also helped the new babies to settle in the cage. The last time she was weighed she was 1277grams and her forearm measured 167mm. She will be sadly missed.

Recently I had two baby ducklings on two separate occasions. The first one was found on its own down at The Entrance, near the Information Centre. A man rescued it and they rang me and I went and got it. It was only about a day old duckling. I couldn’t find anyone with ducklings at the time and was worried about raising it on its own.

I went to have a look around at Mingara where there are a lot of water birds, including ducks. I saw a pair of ducks with young ones the same size as the one I had.

I threw some bread to coax them over to where I was and they came over. I distracted the male and fed the female and the ducklings close by. I then got the cage the duckling was in and opened the door and let the little duckling go. It went straight to the other ducklings and the parents accepted it as their own.

I did that again with another duckling on a different day and it was accepted as well. So it doesn’t hurt to try finding foster parents for our single little ducklings.

Debra Mak

R.I.P. - MARLEY – GREY HEADED FLYING FOX

SEABIRDS REPORT

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WILDLIFE'ARC'

BASIC'BIRD'TRAINING'!

!

Where:! ! 9!Yuroka!Close!North!Gosford!

When!:! ! Saturday!11th!February!2012!

Start:! ! 9.30am!(est!3hrs)!

RSVP!to:[email protected]!by!no!later!than!9th$February$2012.!

What'it'Covers'• 1st!Aid!for!Birds!(including!rescuing!and!transporting!the!animal)!• Feeding!Techniques!(excluding!crop!feeding)!• Housing!Birds!• Territorial!Birds!• Making!artificial!nests!

!

!

Bird'starter'Kits!will!be!available!for!$15!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!which!will!include!the!items!listed!below;!

Hand!Rearing!Mix!250g! !Wet!Lorry!Mix!250g! Insectivore!500g! Spark!40mls! Soluvite!D!(vitamins)!40g!!!

!!

!

!

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BIRDS by VALDA BARTON


!

BIRDS&by&Valda&Barton&–&Mentor&–&Upper&North&This!month!I!have!included!

!

FINCHES

! Diamond Firetail Vulnerable

BIRDS OF PREY

! ! ! !Spotted Harrier Vulnerable Little Eagle Vulnerable Square-tailed Kite Vulnerable

!! ! !Barking Owl Vulnerable Powerful Owl Vulnerable

! ! !Osprey Vulnerable Masked Owl Vulnerable Sooty Owl Vulnerable

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BIRDS continued


!

WEIGHING&BIRDS&!

People!have!asked!me!WHY!do!we!now!under!the!new!Code!of!Practice,!need!to!weigh!our!birds!and!the!food!they!consume.!

!

In!our!manual!on!the!web;!you!will!find!(courtesy!of!WIRES),!a!table!on!approx.!weights!for!most!birds!or!the!most!common!birds!to!come!into!care.!!!!!

• This!will!tell!you!if!the!bird!comes!in!healthy!or!under!weight!• If!healthy,!then!loses!weight!in!care!could!mean!incorrect!diet!or!underlying!medical!condition!not!

diagnosed.!!Speak!to!your!mentor!about!this!• If!healthy!and!maintains!weight!in!care!means;!you!are!doing!a!good!job,!so!keep!it!up!• If!a!bird!is!dehydrated,!there!should!also!be!a!loss!of!body!weight.!!Weighing!the!bird!will!determine!the!

amount!of!fluids!to!be!given!• Weighing!the!bird!will!give!us!a!weight!ratio!to!work!out!the!amount!of!food!bird!should!consume!each!day!• Weighing!the!bird!then!going!to!vet!for!medication!will!assist!the!vet!to!know!how!much!to!prescribe.!

I!hope!this!helps!rehabilitators!to!better!understand!the!reason!for!weighing!birds!!!

Hi All We are still in need of help. I thought I would explain each job and maybe someone would like to take on one of these jobs Firstly Cutting - This is done mainly by a fruit cutter and placed in large buckets. Secondly the dishing up is done into small buckets that are then HUNG up in the cage. None of the jobs are difficult and take no more than two hours each job. So if you think you can help in any way please don't hesitate to contact me or if you would like to see for yourself come to 375 Matcham Road Matcham any day. This is done every day no breaks. The bats need to be fed every day. Hoping to hear from somebody. Jan

URGENT HELP NEEDED IN FLYING FOX SECTION

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Hand Rearing Mix 500g =$ 8.00 Divetilac 1kg = $8.00* Egg & Biscuit 1kg = $4.00 Insectivor 1kg = $ 8.00* Granivore 500g =$6.00 Wet Lorry Mix 1kg = $ 7.00* Poly Aid Plus 40g = $2.95 Aristopet Avi-‐Cal (liquid Calcium) 125mls = $6.55 Solutive D 40g = $1.50 Aristopet Insecticidal dusting powder 50g = $7.50 Spark 40mls = $1.85 NEW Animal House 50g = $2.00 Wormout Gel 100ml = $14.30 Heating Pad = $60.00 ($20 deposit, then 2 x $20 per month payment plan available)

NOTE# The heating pad remains the property of ARC until the item is paid in full. WOMBAROO Teats $1.25ea “F” Flying Fox “P” = Possum “STM” = Small macropods “MTM” = Medium macropods Please note Effective 21st September 2011 there has been marginal increase in our supplier prices on the below products. All prices now quoted are including GST

Mice:............................no. in Pack ......................$ PRICE Pinkies..........................10 ......................................$8.60 Fuzzies ........................7......................................... $8.25 Weaners …………………..7……………………………………… $11.35 Hoppers…………………….7………………………………………$9.85 Adults………………………..7 ……………………………………..$14.25 Rats ............................no. in Pack.......................$ PRICE Pinkies..........................10 ......................................$15.20 Fuzzies .........................7 ........................................$13.90 Hoppers........................5 ........................................$13.85 Small............................4 .........................................$13.00 Medium........................3 ........................................$13.20 Large ............................2 ........................................$12.05 Extra Large ..................2.........................................$14.85 Jumbo...........................1 ........................................$9.25 Super Jumbo.................1 ........................................$11.00

Small, medium, large, extra large and jumbo rats can also be purchased in packs of 5 see below for pricing RATS 5 PACKS no. in Pack.......................$ PRICE Small............................ 5 ........................................$15.70 Medium........................5 ........................................$21.75 Large ............................5 ........................................$29.70 Extra Large ..................5.........................................$36.85 Jumbo Rats………………...5…………………………………….$46.20

Enquiries: For all questions or order please contact Katie Bell email: treasurer@wildlife-‐arc.org.au * Item is 50% subsidised by wildlife arc fundraising

WHOLESALE STORE PRICE LIST

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NOTICE OF MEETINGS

Sunday 18th December 1:00 pmGeneral Meeting proper start at 1:30 PM

Niagara Park Community Centre. situated in the Niagara Park Shopping Centre at 1pmThis will be a short meeting followed by a Christmas Party. Details to follow later

Sunday 15th January 2012 at 1pmThe Wildlife ARC rescues and cares for injured and orphaned native animals on the Central

Coast. It was started in 1986 by Gwen Parry-Jones and in 2009 we cared for over fivethousand animals. Help for native animals can always be found on our 24/7 manned

emergency phone and we are active in promoting wildlife conservation. All ARC members arevolunteers and ARC training is free. New members are always welcome.

DISCLAIMER Any views expressed herein are that of the authors and not necessarily ofWildlife Animal Rescue & Care Society Inc. (Wildlife ARC).

MEMBERSHIPS TO THE ARCYOU MUST BE A FINANCIAL MEMBER TO CARE AND RESCUE.

MEMBERSHIP FORMS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE ARC WEBSITE www.wildlife-arc.org.auMEMBERSHIP FEES CAN BE PAID BY DIRECT DEPOSIT, CHEQUE OR MONEY ORDER

PLEASE SEND YOUR COMPLETED FORM AND MEMBERSHIP FEES TO THEARC POST OFFICE BOX ADDRESS.

NEW MEMBERS PAY MEMBERSHIP AND A $5.00 JOINING FEERENEWALS ARE DUE 30TH JUNE EACH YEAR.

The deadline for pictures and articles for next month’s newsletter is the 1st of the [email protected]

We need a constant supply of reports, pictures and stories. Thank you.

POSITIONS VACANTHead Carer - Possums North & WestHead Carer - Possums South & East

Head Carer - BirdsHead Carer - Reptiles

Clause 15 b. of the Constitution states;Nominations will be sent in writing to the Secretary at the official ARC address so that theSecretary will have them prior to the Management Committee meeting at which the nominationwill be considered. The candidate will be a qualified carer within the relevant animal section. Thenomination will be signed by nominator and a seconder both of whom shall be carers within therelevant animal section and will be accompanied by the written consent of the candidate.

Sunday 19th February at 1pm

Sunday 18th March at 1pm

February 2012 - WILDLIFE A.R.Cwildlife-arc.org.au/newsletters/ARC complimentary... · ·...

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