AROUND-OZ MOTORHOMES

As many of you would know, Darlington Park is one of our favourite not too far from home spots. True the only facilities are toilets, but it is just so peaceful, especially if you can get a prime spot beside the Albert River. Yes, this is the same river as the one crossed by the Pacific Highway - this is right in the head waters.
We got there early one Saturday morning and success - no one in the spot we had eyed off for many visits. Just after lunch, we spotted our neighbour across the other side of the creek looking for wood. Then he hurriedly came back, asking if we had any gloves. "Yes," I said. "Well, there's a possum caught on the barb wire fence!" Being an unfulfilled vet, with thermal gloves for winter walking and a spare towel under arm, I soon followed Darren back over the creek. Bob followed with the digital camera. About 200 metres in, there it was - doing arm twists on the newly strung high tension barbed wire fence.

To start with, the little bundle of fur bit furiously into my gloves, but gentle talking and quiet stroking soon calmed a scared baby. One of its little feet was quite blue - obviously no blood getting through there. With extreme care I managed to get it unhooked from one set of spikes by twisting the little body around the fence - probably just undid its own twists. However, the other set of prongs was well and truly embedded, with no way of seeing where it was hooked. Cutting the fence was the solution and fortunately Ranger Garth had been altered by Darren's wife. After some consideration, he got a length of heavy duty wire, wound it around section of fence we needed to cut and clamped it. That way, hopefully, the fence would not twang back into any of the humans. Meanwhile Peter or Peta got named. The gloves had to come off to hold the little body with a towel wrapped around its head, to keep it calm. Sugar gliders don't give in without a fight - and my index finger got a huge bite - and yes for such a tiny mouth we had to force it open to unclamp the jaws. We cut three of the four barbs but the last barb was into a very fleshy area. Garth did his trick with the barbed wire - no it didn't twang into anyone - and we found the last barb was deep in under the arm in the wing of the glider. As you can see in the photo Peta (yes it was a female) hang on furiously when released from that terrible trauma. Garth rang the vet at Beaudesert and off Peta went for surgery.

Pleased to say Peta is now recovering from all the excitement. The barb was cut out of her wing, she was all stitched up and has gone to a foster home. If she is away more than two weeks, the rest of the group will probably outlaw her, so chances are she will be in her foster home for about two months and will be joined with other sugar gliders and released into a nearby area to set up their own colony.

Did I want to bring her home? Yes - of course I did - but these marsupials are very territorial, so we couldn't. The ring tail possum who lives next door might have objected. So we had to be satisfied that one little gal was saved and will have her day in the area in the spring.


The view from the front door!	Swimming is very safe in summer


What an idyllic campsite!	The road back to Kerry and Beaudesert