From Manfred
As a fox recently took two of our newest Wood Duck family, I have been out at nights to do random patrols in the hope that I would spot the culprit. While out searching last Saturday night, I instead spotted a rather large and unfamiliar wombat peering from around the corner of a retainer wall. I guessed it had to be one of our earlier releases and attempted to get a closer look to identify the animal. By the colour, it had to be Ebony or Nelson, neither of which we had seen for well over a year. Closer examination under torch light revealed that the wombat had a serious injury on the back of its neck and what appeared to be maggot infestation. It was panic stations and an urgent call was made for Donna and Monika to assist, with blankets at hand. By positioning myself in front of the pipe drain that the wombat was sure to head for, the capture was over in seconds and the wombat was shoved ungracefully into my biggest plastic tub.
A quick look underneath suggested it was more likely to be Nelson than Ebony (very obvious if you know what I mean!) and a certain white patch on the rear end confirmed without question that the wombat was indeed Nelson. This was very exciting since Nelson was a special wombat that had come to us with a bit of a controversial history. When rescued as a baby, he had a seriously injured front paw and there was much doubt that he would ever be able to dig well enough to be a real wombat. Healesville Vets monitored his situation very closely and numerous X-rays over a period of time gave a glimmer of hope as his 5 crushed fingers were on the mend. Although the healing bones were far from the right shape, Nelson was given a stay of execution. Nelson was later transferred to our Shelter as we had a good outdoor wombat enclosure and could monitor his progress on a daily basis, right through to his potential release one day into adjoining forest. Nelson did very well and proved he could run and dig and play and that he deserved his chance of a good life in the wild. So off he went. We saw Nelson on and off for a few months, until he finally found a better place to hang out at, or perhaps with better company - he was a bit of a spunk by then.
We sedated Nelson to manage his now much larger structure, with attitude to match, and so that we could treat his injury and to thoroughly check him all over. It was a great relief to find that the white mass in the hole in his neck was actually pus and not maggots, but the wound was serious and was accompanied with a smell to match the appearance. This was a job for a Vet, and we know they really get bored on Sundays if we don't give them a reason to open their practice.
Other than the hole in his neck, Nelson was in magnificent condition (a bit like me) with a gain of a good 10 kg in the last year (yep, just like me). His paws were large and muscular and the even wear of his front claws suggested that he had no problem digging and without favour to his left or right. Nelson had indeed become a real wombat. The instruction from the Vet was to keep his wound open for a few days and wash 3 times a day with a solution that would debride the dead flesh and prepare the site for saline packing and bandaging - yeah, right. Just because the plastic RSPCA wombat money tins have a bandage there doesn't prove it can be done. With a bit of prodding, the Vet produced a volcanic eruption of brightly coloured pus (come on, you all said you wanted real stories). I readily agreed to the oral antibiotics after needing two hands to penetrate his armor-like skin with an 18 gauge needle that threatened to bend the whole time. It was like pushing a nail into wood. If the pus doesn't stop forming, it's off to surgery by the end of the week.
To keep Nelson contained and as clean and sterile as possible, home is temporarily a large plastic tub with a heavy galvanized mesh lid and numerous octopus straps for security. Unfortunately, it's the workshop floor for now, at least until the smell goes away - then, maybe, the lounge room. It was just as well that I have spent the best part of the last 3 weeks cleaning out my workshop. While previously unable to walk through sideways (and that's got nothing to do with the extra 10 kg!), it was with pride that I showed the World's best organized workshop to visitors on the weekend. At 5:00 AM this morning, strange sounds emanated from said workshop. I quickly went to investigate before all of the kangaroos went berserk in the lounge room. For some strange reason, I found that I was unable to open my workshop door. Yes, it was unlocked. A bit of a shove and I managed to pry the door open, just a couple of centimeters - enough to flick the light switch and see golf clubs, and timber, and pipes, and tools - but not quite where I remembered leaving them. Suddenly, it seemed that Nelson's chances for recovery were less than earlier thought.
After another hour of clean up, and a nice cup of tea, I was able to find my pliers and fencing wire! Donna can poke his food though the mesh until I get home. In fact, if I don't hurry up and get home for our 25th wedding anniversary dinner tonight, I'll be in the workshop with Nelson. Stay tuned for Nelson's progress.
Nelson episode 2
By Thursday (2nd June), Nelson had deteriorated and we had become very concerned about his condition. He was lethargic and had stopped eating. This meant that he also wasn't taking his oral antibiotic. He offered no resistance to being handled. We brought him into the lounge room (bugger the smell - he'd probably get used to it anyway) to keep a closer eye on him and arranged for an urgent Vet visit.
The Vet felt that Nelson probably had an upset stomach due to the oral antibiotic and recommended we swap to an injectable form. Hmmm, fun. The Vet was, however, delighted with the condition of Nelson's wound and commented on how a similar wound on a dog would have taken weeks to reach the same stage of healing. No further flushing with the Opi-derm was required and the wound could be left unbandaged - no argument from us. Nelson returned to the warmth and comfort of our lounge room.
Over the following days, Nelson improved and returned to his normal eating habits - gorging on his favorite delicacies such as sweet potato, corn on the cob, and Tropical muesli mixed with horse feed and dry Lucerne chaff (yeah, yeah, I know, not the most natural diet for a Victorian Wombat, but anything to keep him happy). Wombats also adore carrots but there is a risk that one day they will come across carrots laced with 1080, as this is how they lay baits, so we prefer not to make them familiar with this popular menu item. Such is their like of carrots that we actually overdosed one of our wombats many years ago (before we realized about the 1080 bit) and ended up with a rather sick and ORANGE wombat. Yep, he turned orange - I'm not joking. We were told it was a form of poisoning. It's worth doing, just to see an Orange wombat - Yes, I'm joking this time! Anyway, once off carrots, the colour subsided and the wombat returned to normal within a day or two.
Nelson was happy in his tub for about a week, and then he decided that he really had enough, and so had we. Sleep was becoming precious. On Thursday night (9th June), the decision was made to give Nelson a bit of space and transfer him into more appropriate lodgings. But we still wanted to keep him relatively clean and dry and keep an eye on the progress of his wound and be able to inject him easily, etc. Then came my brainwave. I have a partially completed storage shed attached to the side of my brand new barn - just needs a concrete floor and a door. Surely, this could be easily converted into 4 star wombat facility. So under torch light, in the freezing cold, we set about creating wombat heaven. Numerous substantial blackwood posts were chain-sawed to lengths that could fill gaps between poles along the base of the walls, a massive concrete pipe was upended through the doorway (don't tell my orthopedic surgeon!) to provide an instant burrow, and numerous hay bales and play things were thrown in for his enjoyment. A covered-over toileting area was provided, and a wooden panel was securely fastened across the doorway to prevent escape, not that any wombat would ever want to leave this wombat Hilton.
A quick check at 1:00 AM found empty food bowls and Nelson snoring his head off in the concrete pipe. Hallelujah!
Another quick check at 7:00 AM, just before going to work, found a Cambodian mine field and an empty pipe! No holes had penetrated the perimeter, but Nelson was gone. The barrier that Donna needed a ladder to ascend was obviously not high enough for Nelson the wombat. His wound was pretty good but our biggest concern was that we neglected to give him a dose of RevolutionC. He had a dry and flakey area on his head, and a few lice running around, so we wanted to dose him on RevolutionC especially to counter any possibility of mange. We kicked ourselves for that.
Nearly a week later, there was a commotion under the verandah. Kangaroos were bounding in all directions, and a familiar snorting sound was followed by a large black mass appearing out from under the WV rescue trailer. It wasn't Tropical muesli, but the kangaroo food must have looked OK. Nelson had returned and was in great condition. He was difficult to hold while we gave him another dose of antibiotic and quickly deposited a squirt of Revolution to the back of his neck. His wound continued to heal well and he was obviously happier to be back in the wild. And that's exactly where he went again that night (Wednesday 14th June).
Even if we don't see Nelson again, I'm sure he will do fine. Somehow, I don't think we have seen the last of Nelson.
[Ed. Note: A picture of Manfred and Nelson can be seen in our Flickr Photo Group, or directly here.]
