Wombat Rescue

What sounded pretty straight forward in the Workaway listing turned out to be anything but. Not in a bad way, just in a very interesting, unusual and intriguing way. 

Where to be begin? 


Mark and Jody drove me all the way to the farm/rescue center. It is a large house sitting on 110 acres and currently houses 23 rescue wombats, ducks, birds, sheep, donkeys, dogs, and wallabies. The couple who own and run the place are in their 70’s. Lyn explained in the first five minutes that she does this work as a payback for surviving leukemia. 


The couple also care for two of their grandchildren (I think they are from Don’s children). The children, 5 and 2, live here full time but occasionally visit a parent.

So imagine a house where there is a high chair at the kitchen counter, a busy little 5 year old demanding attention, 12 baby wombats needing to be bottle fed, two very young wallabies needed feedings every four hours, one wombat with an injured foot who needs special care and 6 wombats that are being acclimated to outside so they are carried in and out several times a day. There are more wombats in an outdoor pen.


There are mountains of towels used for bedding to be washed. Other animals to be fed. I don’t even know what else is part of the normal routine.


I went to the house around 8 am to ask if there was something they wanted me to do. The answer was, it’s a busy day, we have to go into town. Tomorrow we will have a list of chores. 

Okay?? I kept the kids occupied while Lyn got dressed; it was all I could think of to do to be helpful. They needed the kids to be quiet while Don was feeding the wallabies.


Don and Lyn are very friendly, caring people. I haven’t heard the stories behind the grandkids but it is surely one of personal sacrifice. 


The smell in the house from the wombats is a bit overwhelming, although I am acclimating a bit. If the wind is right, the smell from the pigpen next to the bus is knock-your-socks-off bad. Fortunately, the wind is usually in the other direction. 

Did I mention the adult kangaroos, former rescue animals, on the back porch feeding from a trough? 

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