WIRES Blue Mountains

White-bellied Sea-Eagle rescued and released

On the far south coast of NSW a few months ago a call came in to WIRES for someone to rescue a Sea-Eagle caught in fishing line. It was way down at Wonboyn Lake, about 40ks from Eden and well away from any raptor rescuer.

A thoughtful and concerned person had found it sitting on a bush track a few hundred metres from the beach but about 8 kms from the caravan park where he was making the call to WIRES. He was only passing through and not a local and needed to be on his way shortly.

The directions were a bit confusing, however it was obvious that not only was the Sea-Eagle a long way from a WIRES rescuer but it was also going to be fairly difficult to locate.

A call was put through to Kerry one of our experienced raptor rescuers and the closest one available. She was able to go but it would take her at least an hour to get to the caravan park, let alone the eagle.

It occurred to Judy who took the call to try a ranger from NPWS who was often down in that location. To her delight he was only 15 minutes from the caravan park and willing to assist. As it was not going to be too long the person who found the eagle was happy to wait for the ranger and take him to the eagle.

Within a short space of time the Sea-Eagle was freed, not from fishing line as first thought but from rope with a buoy and sinker attached. The bird, was only a young one, and very thankfully suffered minimal injuries from the experience and was able to be released.

Please think about how rubbish can impact wildlife and encourage those around you to do the same.

Rare rescue of young Greater Glider

WIRES Central Coast was called to a local vet where this juvenile Greater Glider had been taken by a local resident who had found her on the ground in the Avoca area.

WIRES rescuer, Gary picked her up from the vet and took her home. She was uninjured and Gary thinks she probably fell from her mother's back.

Because Greater gliders are rarely in care it was decided to call in a very experienced carer.

Gordana was called to take her into longer term care.

Although these gliders are not listed as endangered in this area, it is unusual for them to come into WIRES care, especially one that is uninjured like this young female.

She weighs just 150 grams and as you can see fits into the palm of a hand. She will need to be fed three times a day for now and will spend most of her time in her specially made pouch.

Pouches are knitted, sewn and assembled by many dedicated people who provide them to our carers for use with many small mammals in our care. The pattern and instructions for making pouches are on a factsheet for anyone who is interested.

Each year WIRES cares for around four of these very precious native mammals around NSW, mostly in the Clarence Valley area.

The Greater Glider is the largest gliding possum they have thick fur that make them look even larger.

They occur in eucalypt forests and woodlands along the east coast of Australia from north east Queensland to the Central Highlands of Victoria.

These gliders feed only on eucalypt leaves, buds, flowers and mistletoe. They shelter in tree hollows by day and may have many hollows within their home range.

They give birth to a single young in late autumn or early winter which remains in the pouch for 4 months and is independent at 9 months of age. They can glide up to a horizontal distance of 100m.

We are beginning to see an influx of orphaned young as we do in Spring every year. Think about donating to our Spring Appeal to help us be there for young animals such as this very special Greater glider.

Platypus rescue and release

‘George’ was seen at a riverside holiday park struggling to climb the bank of the river, and those watching knew he was in trouble so they immediately called WIRES. 

WIRES volunteer, Tracy says the first priority was to get him warm and dry, as saturation of the thick pelt can be very detrimental to a platypus’s health. He was very thin, lethargic and with almost no body fat and he was infested with ticks.

The development stage of his spurs indicated he was a young male. He was offered fluids and luckily he took to this quite well after some initial reluctance. He was kept warm and monitored overnight and although he was more alert and had definitely improved a little by the morning Tracy says he was clearly still in very poor health. She knew his survival was uncertain, and that the best chance for him would be to be in a specialist facility, so she contacted Taronga Zoo wildlife hospital and was able to take him there for long-term care, rehabilitation and ultimate release.

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The beautiful image of 'George' was taken after his release by Kaleb Amos

Possum with head trapped in glass jar makes full recovery and is released

A possum found with a glass jar stuck over his head in Blaxland has been released to the same tree he was rescued from following expert treatment from vets and WIRES.

“It was a textbook release,” said WIRES carer Judith Carter, who attended the initial rescue and cared for the adult male brushtail possum overnight.

“We got there just after dark, and I held up the carrier to his tree. When I opened the lid, he poked his little head out and had a look around. He knew exactly where he was, and scampered up the tree.”

The large tree is home to two resident possums. Judith says the second possum heard the returning possum climbing the tree and immediately poked its head out.

WIRES was initially notified of the urgent situation just after 12pm on June 11 when a member of public called the rescue line and reported she had seen the adult male brushtail possum 15-20 metres up a tree in Blaxland.

Wildlife carer Judith attended the rescue along with a Parramatta Fire and Rescue NSW crew, which dispatched its elevated hydraulic platform. It was Police Rescue who contained the possum from the tree before handing it over to Judith.

Judith, a member of WIRES’ Blue Mountains branch, then transported the distressed possum to Nepean Animal Hospital.

Arriving at the animal hospital, the possum was seen immediately by staff and sedated. The jar was then lubricated and manoeuvred off the possum’s head.

Judith collected the possum later that evening and cared for it overnight.

“He was eating and drinking, he was moving well, had a nice thick coat, had no injuries or sign of illness, and was a good, healthy weight.”

Despite the possum’s great condition at release, Judith says the possum is very lucky to have survived.

“The jar went right up over his chin and he would’ve been trapped for at least 9 hours, maybe 15 or more, so by the time I got to him he was very distressed, with very shallow breathing.”

“If he hadn’t have been found and reported by the member of public, he wouldn’t have survived the night.”

“He’s lucky to have that hollow in the tree and to live in an area with such good food and habitat, and human neighbours who care so much about wildlife.”

WIRES says the incident is a timely reminder for members of the public to take care when disposing of rubbish, including recyclable items like glass jars, as wildlife can easily become entangled in plastics or trapped in containers.

Snake, a red bellied black

This snake, a red bellied black, had managed to get itself well and truly tangled in some netting that had been placed over a fruit tree. When we got there the two gentlemen who had called us asked us how we would get it out and we replied, "carefully".

We cut a large area of net around the snake so that we could take it to a more comfortable location where we were able to remove the netting that was tangled around the body of the snake. Some of the strands were very tight, calling for a steady hand.

Fortunately the snake did not sustain any serious injuries (sometimes the netting can cut them quite deeply) so we were able to release it immediately in the surrounding bush.