Today has been rough here at the rescue, thankfully we've managed to top off the day with a happy experience but it still hasn't been easy.
It started like any normal day, I got up fed some animals and got in my car to go to my day job. Whilst other people are around it makes it much easier for me to go to work and earn money to help out, unfortunately nobody pays you to save the wildlife.
Not even 10 minutes into my drive from out of nowhere 2 kangaroos jumped from the embankment to my left and into the road in front of my car. Everyone in Australia known kangaroos have terrible road sense and are incredibly erratic, It didn't help that there was sun-glare but there was nothing I could do either way.
I slammed on the brakes and swerved to the right I know this isn't what you're meant to do but meh. One of the kangaroos collided with my car and went sliding along the road. The second i heard the bang when I was still going at least 60 km/h I knew it wouldn't be good.
I immediately got out and she was laying there in the middle of the road, looking at me, terrified. I was apologising to her and trying to calm her but as I got closer she tried to make a noise and blood came out her mouth, she was making crying noises as I picked her up and put her in my car but she hadn't even tried to get away.
We went straight to the vet to check the damage but she had a broken spine and we had to put her to sleep. It is the first animal I have hit since I moved up here. I have had the image of her laying in my backseat blood spattered over the white leather looking so scared and confused burnt into my mind all day and it's not nice to say the least.
Unfortunately I still had to go to work and was now late. A bad start to the day that was only getting worse.
Not an hour after i arrived at work I got a phone call.
One of the emus had managed to escape the property and was about a kilometer down the road at a neighbors farm. This is strange as the emus are left to free roam for most of the day and even so have never tried to venture off the property, they have a family here, a pack. Even when one has gotten out before he stays near the fence with the other emu and goats and doesn't leave.
They managed to corner him in one of the fields and whilst my stepdad held him my mum went and got the car to load him up. By the time she returned he had died. We still don't know why, the vet said it could of been a heart attack. It's possible it was bitten by a venomous snake which is what caused it to flee too but we just don't know.
The worst part about the emu was he was our pet. He had been living with us for over a year and we had hand raised him and his friend since they came from eggs.
Pat and Dot we named them but honestly I cannot tell them apart. We think it was Pat who passed away today but either way I will miss whoever it was. I loved watching them run around like fools chasing things, they'd jump around and flap their feathers and make funny noises together.
I hope Dot isn't too sad without her brother, she still has the goats and the alpaca and the goose in her little pack but it won't be the same. R.I.P Pat, I will miss you you big silly bird.
This put quite a dent in my day but as it was almost lunchtime and I was already there I figured I may as well stay and make some money. I finished out the day and was feeling surprisingly ok given. When I got home I was told the baby magpie someone brought us had passed away.
This made me sad but mostly it made me angry.
Magpies will let their young "fall" out of the tree and will keep an eye on and feed/protect them" until they are ready to fend for themselves. This is part of how they learn and grow but so many people will find one that cannot fly and pick it up and bring it to us.
We attempted to take him back to where he was found but we couldn't locate the tree or any magpies in the area so we planned on getting him big and healthy and then re-releasing him somewhere nearby. Unfortunately this didn't happen and probably could of been avoided had they just left him be.
The happy story at the end of the day was a koala rescue where we managed to successfully capture and relocate him without any injury. Though he was pretty keen to latch onto my leg. I have some video of when we released him so I shall put all of that in a post for tomorrow.
For tonight I am emotionally drained, it has been a long day and I'm going to go and cuddle Carl the baby wombat to cheer me up.
Goodnight Steemians