Wandering along Australia's largest freeway, covered in bugs and all alone, Carl the wombat was just a 4 month old baby when he came to us.
We received a call one day that a lady had seen a very small wombat, walking alone along the main freeway that runs around Australia, the Hume. We drove down and met the woman who had kept him from wandering onto the road. He was tiny, I could fit him in the palm of my hand. Covered in bugs and insects, looking quite skinny he had obviously been alone for a few days at least.
Coming to the rescue
We brought him straight home and gave him a bath, got all the insects off him and then gave him a bottle of specialty formula. He was difficult to feed at first, having to force his mouth open and the bottle in I was worried if he didn't eat he might starve.
We set up a pouch for him and after a few days it became much easier to feed. He was eating well and putting on weight.
He was still so small though and when you picked him up he would just try and nuzzle into your stomach or jumper and hide.
We think his mum must of been hit by a car and he was spared but left to fend for himself, most wombats stay with their mother until about 8kg or so before roaming off on their own. When found he was only about 800gms.
It's been a few weeks and young Carl is becoming far more confident. He roams the house and comes outside with you. He still spends most his days drinking bottled milk and sleeping but he is definitely not scare of us anymore.
(Just making himself at home.... in my coffee.)
Carl is about 6 months old!
Now we're starting to go on bush walks and spend more time awake. I like to follow mum and dad around when they do their gardening and Chris even took me to work for a week where I met a super nice old lady who let me eat her garden while she was trying to plant things.
He loves to play now, biting and nibbling, he plays with Iluka the Labrador and tries to play with the cats but they have no interest. The kangaroos think he is strange and hide in their pouches when he tries to play but he doesn't care and just zooms around being crazy.
He' eating very well and starting to put on a fair bit of weight. Apparently at 6 kilos they're meant to become quite difficult to have around the house, he is about 4kg now so not long and we will need to fin him a new home. For now, let's enjoy a bottle.
I need to find a new home.
He's starting to get big, and when he gets playful it's starting to hurt. He is still loved by everybody, every morning I come in before work and say hello and give him a cuddle. At about 8am he gets a bottle and goes outside to play and eat grass for a few hours with the kangaroos.
Then he naps for a little while. at about lunchtime-2pm he has another bottle and goes on a bush-walk. We need him to get comfortable with the surroundings and sounds of the bush before he gets released. For release we will need to find him a home where he can slowly wander off into the woods as he's ready. At our house we have a main road just nearby and it would just kill me if I ever found him on the side of the road hit by a car, as such we want to find somewhere away from a town and a main road to give him his best chance.
Im way too fat...
Okay it seems nobody is looking for a 6 kilo wombat, we can't seem to find a suitable home but we won't just let him go anywhere. Other problem is he weighs about 8.5kg now instead of 6. He is still so cute and cuddly but he has become a lot more independent. When he was little he would follow between your legs everywhere you walk. now he just wanders off on his own and does what he pleases. We have had to wombat proof the doors with special plastic boards to stop him breaking the fly-wire and going for a wander. He spends a lot more time awake and outside now too, eating grass and vegetables and digging holes.
I'm such a happy little fella
I'm going to be very sad when Carl leaves but it could be any day now, as soon as he finds a suitable home off he will go so he can learn to be a big wild boy. I will cry when he leaves, it has been almost 9 months now but for once it won't be tears of sadness, rather tears of happiness. I know he will be off to live the life he was meant to and I'm so glad we helped make sure he got there. He is a strong confident little man and I have no doubt he will do perfectly fine on his own. I will be sad that he isn't around but I know there will be others and I can be happy with the fact I got to experience it at all. He is a beautiful cuddly little bastard and he alone is reason enough for me to do this.