Real Live Digger
This turned up in my in-box t'other day, from the wombat rehabilitators at Russell's Burrow, and made me very happy. Go, real-life Digger!
http://www.metalandmagic.com/Images/LJimages/digger.jpg
>Hi Ursula,
>
>We had 3 wombat joeys come in last week.
>
>One was with her dead mother for approx 6 days. A member of the public
>noticed a dead female wombat in a field and didn't think much of it, until
>she noticed that there was dirt all around her (and the dirt was becoming
>more noticeable) over the next few days. We would of course think that a
>dead wombat in a field would have been further cause for investigation from
>the start - death would not have been from a motor vehicle for starters and
>could have been from something more ugly (such as being shot or heaven's
>above, poisoning!)
>
>The member of the public decided to investigate the dead wombat 6 days
>later and found a female joey who had dug underneath mum - hence the dirt
>(and hence the name - Digger (although I immediately thought of your comic
>strip)). Digger is around the 4kg mark (which makes her close to 9-10
>months old) and very nervous. Loves her pouch but becomes very unsettled if
>she's out of it and prone to biting. It will take her a while to come out
>of her shell, but we hope to pair her up with a smaller wombat, Delvina (we
>thought that would be an appropriate name). Delvina, on the other hand is a
>right-royal monster and demands constant playing and attention. Hopefully
>this will rub off on Digger when we eventually pair them up, but in the
>interim, I thought that you would be interested to know that there is a
>real life wombat called 'Digger'. Things are still early days, however, and
>Digger is not out of the woods yet. As often happens, health problems don't
>tend to manifest themselves until weeks later and we sadly end up with a
>deceased joey (the flipside of wildlife caring). Must go, at work and
>someone has to keep the country running - sorry the message is a bit short
>and disjointed.
>
>Take care,
>John & Donna
Letter and photo reposted with permission--and we have an update, too, as it appears Digger, while still wary, is starting to respond to the rehabilitators, following her surrogate mom around and making "huff-huff!" noises (which is evidentally how a baby wombat calls its mother.)
I feel all warm and fuzzy.
http://www.metalandmagic.com/Images/LJimages/digger.jpg
>Hi Ursula,
>
>We had 3 wombat joeys come in last week.
>
>One was with her dead mother for approx 6 days. A member of the public
>noticed a dead female wombat in a field and didn't think much of it, until
>she noticed that there was dirt all around her (and the dirt was becoming
>more noticeable) over the next few days. We would of course think that a
>dead wombat in a field would have been further cause for investigation from
>the start - death would not have been from a motor vehicle for starters and
>could have been from something more ugly (such as being shot or heaven's
>above, poisoning!)
>
>The member of the public decided to investigate the dead wombat 6 days
>later and found a female joey who had dug underneath mum - hence the dirt
>(and hence the name - Digger (although I immediately thought of your comic
>strip)). Digger is around the 4kg mark (which makes her close to 9-10
>months old) and very nervous. Loves her pouch but becomes very unsettled if
>she's out of it and prone to biting. It will take her a while to come out
>of her shell, but we hope to pair her up with a smaller wombat, Delvina (we
>thought that would be an appropriate name). Delvina, on the other hand is a
>right-royal monster and demands constant playing and attention. Hopefully
>this will rub off on Digger when we eventually pair them up, but in the
>interim, I thought that you would be interested to know that there is a
>real life wombat called 'Digger'. Things are still early days, however, and
>Digger is not out of the woods yet. As often happens, health problems don't
>tend to manifest themselves until weeks later and we sadly end up with a
>deceased joey (the flipside of wildlife caring). Must go, at work and
>someone has to keep the country running - sorry the message is a bit short
>and disjointed.
>
>Take care,
>John & Donna
Letter and photo reposted with permission--and we have an update, too, as it appears Digger, while still wary, is starting to respond to the rehabilitators, following her surrogate mom around and making "huff-huff!" noises (which is evidentally how a baby wombat calls its mother.)
I feel all warm and fuzzy.