During the recent bushfire period which went from September to mid-February, animals in Australia were killed in the millions. The latest figure stands at a billion. Among them were many iconic Australian animals including kangaroos, koalas and wombats. But it also included a huge number of birds, many of whom washed up on the beaches along the south coast of NSW.
The animals who survived are still being cared for in wildlife shelters and by vets.
My favourite stories were of the wombats. Wombats dig deep holes and because wombats are rotund and quite large, these burrows have to be pretty big. They are also well protected from fire because they are quite deep and long, in some cases a hundred metres in length.
Wombats share their burrows with other wombats, and during a fire, other animals also take shelter. In one instance I saw that a snake had taken refuge in a wombat hole.
Children’s author Jackie French, noticed that the wombats began preparing for the fire in November. The fire that came to her place, did so in January.
And while some scientists have pooh poohed the idea of wombats sharing their territories, when you live with wild animals constantly, you see things that get missed by scientists who come for just a short period with their sensors and cameras.
Another woman woke one morning to find 50 kangaroos in her garage. She had been rescuing joeys and young kangaroos for many years and recognised some of them. They knew that her place was one of safety.
We watch cassowaries where we live and over the years have seen many things that are denied in the official story. It is the case that male cassowaries mostly take the stripeys (the young chicks) around for several months. The story we heard was that the females never do this. Last year both female and male looked after three chicks for about five months.
With our increasing disconnection from nature, people have ceased to understand how the world works and how important it is to see altruism displayed by wild animals and how they operate in times of need.
Not too long ago I had dream about cassowaries in which I was worried that one would go for me. You can see from the photo that they are rather large. At the end of the dream:
Three very large cassowaries come through the door. I manage to walk between them to open the door, as I do the largest one yet walks past me and as she does she says, ‘Are you all right?’
At this point I realise that I will be okay with them no matter how many of them there are.
As I write this, a green tree ant walks across the top of my computer!
(Meet Mago Contributor) Susan Hawthorne, Ph.D.
Glorious recognition of caring animal behavior; what a shame human consciousness gets in the way of much of ours? Fine pieces, Susan!
With our increasing disconnection from nature, people have ceased to understand how the world works and how important it is to see altruism displayed by wild animals and how they operate in times of need.
So critically important and true to so few – wonderful article Susan