Bucket's Story

Last week, a couple returned to their property in the fire ravaged Redgate area, and while surveying the damage, noticed an overturned bucket in their garden. Sheltering underneath, many days after fire had destroyed their property, they found a live brushtail possum. What a miracle! This possum survived because those caring residents acted quickly and got her straight to the vets. (And hiding under a bucket was obviously a good survival strategy as well!) She was assessed and treated for her burns and passed on to a registered wildlife carer and is now recovering from her ordeal. Most of the possums who have come into care after the fires have not fared so well. Whilst local vets and carers have put a huge amount of energy into treating and caring for these animals, over half have died due to their extensive burns and smoke inhalation.

However, Bucket's story highlights the fact that some injured wildlife are still out there, sheltering in unburnt pockets of bush, in roof spaces, or around houses. It is important that locals keep an eye out for animals that seem unusually docile, are moving awkwardly, or have obvious signs of injury. Domestic pets can inflict a lot of secondary damage on animals that are injured or seeking new habitat after a fire, so please keep your cats and dogs in at night, and check out what your dog is sniffing at when you go for a walk. Many residents are making water available for wildlife--this is great, but avoid offering unsuitable foods like bread or fruit, as they can cause serious health problems.

If you do find an injured animal and can catch it safely with a towel or pillowcase, put it in a box and get it to a vet as quickly as possible. Keep it quiet and dark and avoid showing it to the neighbours or the kids. Animals in shock and pain may appear docile and tame, but will regard you as a frightening predator, so keep contact to a minimum. Even the cutest looking possum can deliver quite a nasty bite, so keep your fingers out of the way, and cover its head loosely with cloth to calm it down. Don't feed it anything or try to give water, as this can complicate the vet's treatment of the animal. If you can't catch the animal, make a note of its location and contact your local vet who can give you the details of your closest wildlife carer.

The Possum Centre is particularly interested in recording locals' sightings of possums in the fire affected areas, dead, alive or injured. So far we have had reports of Western Ringtail Possums, a threatened species, as well as Brushtails, in many of the main residential areas affected by the fire, from Ellensbrook to Redgate. Evidence of ringtails in the Margaret River area has always been anecdotal--residents knew that they were there, but without scientific evidence, DEC regarded their numbers as minimal. In order to aid their recovery after these fires, it is important that we build a picture of where they once thrived. If you have seen one, can you please note the date and time of sighting, the location of the animal (street name and number is good) and the type of possum, and send an email to info@possumcentre.com.au. If you are not sure which possum you have seen, the obvious difference between the two larger possums is that the ringtail has small rounded ears, while brushtails' ears are long and pointy. In adult possums, their tails are also very distinctive: brushtails have a black or white tipped bushy tail, whilst ringtails have a smooth tail with a white or cream tip. This Possum Centre website has photos and descriptions of both species (Western Ringtail/Care/Identification.) We would also be happy to hear of recent possum spottings in non-fire effected areas, including pygmy and honey possums. All information will help us to target our efforts to find injured possums, and to help re-vegetate and restore crucial habitat links.

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