Please check the pouch!

So many Australians care deeply about our native wildlife and wish there was more they could do to help. One of the most valuable services the public can provide to the wildlife care community is to check the pouch of a kangaroo that has been hit by a vehicle.

There’s no getting around the fact that using cars means that sometimes wildlife are going to get hit. What you might not think about when passing the body is that there can often still be life in there.

Young joeys can live for up to several days inside the pouch of a dead mother, depending on their size and development.

The first option here is to perform a pouch check yourself. A difficult task, but knowing there are lives you could save is a great motivator.

The second option is to get in touch with a wildlife carer and they will hopefully be able to investigate. Wildlife carers can’t be everywhere, sadly, so they need your help spotting and checking or calling in whenever possible.

It’s something special to discover a little joey that still has a chance.

If you think you’d like to have a go at recovering animals, it’s a good idea to have a ‘Boot Buddy’ kit in your car – materials to safely rescue and transport animals.

Important considerations when attempting to help wildlife: Never put yourself in danger from animals or traffic; DO NOT EVER ATTEMPT TO PICK UP A BAT OR SNAKE. These animals must only be handled by experienced/vaccinated carers; do not offer food or water unless advised to do so by a vet or rehabilitator; do not remove an animal from the pouch of a live animal, and never remove a joey that is still attached to their deceased mother’s teat.

An animal may need help if it meets one of the following criteria:

• Can be approached more easily than expected, doesn’t startle or try to escape

• Appears lethargic, lazy and/or tired

• Species usually seen in trees observed on the ground (e.g. koalas, possums, gliders, flying foxes), and

• Nocturnal animals out during the daylight. A ‘Boot Buddy’ is a simple set of items that can be carried in cars to assist our wildlife:

• A towel: to capture the animal/bird and keep it wrapped up in the box

• Pillow case: to contain marsupials

• Elastic band to close the pillow case and keep the animal snug. Small animals like to be kept in small pouches so adjust the location of the band to suit the size of the animal

• Gardening gloves: to handle wildlife safely and hygienically

• Medium-sized cardboard box with air holes for ventilation, and

• A Wildlife Contact Card or number saved on your phone.

Spring Blooms and Butterflies

Spring is about to burst upon us, and with it the Sunshine Coast Wildflower Festival. Many of us love the blaze of purple and yellow and white that covers the coastal wallum heath when the weather warms. Much of it is due to flowers in the pea (Fabaceae) family, which can flower so profusely that they almost cover the plant.

Those of you who live on the sandier soils near the coast will find many of the native peas easy to grow, as they generally enjoy well drained, sandy soil, and flower best in a situation where they have plenty of light. However, for those who live on heavier volcanic soils on the Range, it can be harder to find heavily blooming natives that attract butterflies and other pollinators to your garden.

In the Barung seed forest at Maleny we decided to trial many of the coastal native peas, to see which ones are best suited to the heavier, red volcanic soil.

The ones that are looking particularly promising include Hairy Pea Bush (Pultanaea villosa), which is maintaining a dense growth habit, the Purple Pea Bush (Hovea acutifolia), which is a little taller and more open, and the Austral Indigo (Indigofera

Barung native Plant nursery australis) which is covered in beautifully delicate sprays of mauve.

Many of the native peas are really fast growing, and can fill a space quickly, give great colour and even more importantly, provide shelter from predators for smaller birds. The flowers are also a great source of nectar for European bees, native stingless and solitary bees and butterflies.

As an example of the fast habitat they can create, pictured is a Meadow Argus foraging on a Purple Pea Bush in our Maleny garden, which, only two years ago was a grassy paddock, and now is teeming with pollinators.

If you are looking for colourful natives to attract these beautiful insects, call in to your nursery, and see what stock of native peas are available.

Phone 5494 3151

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With this rampant weedy vine’s flowers on full show, now is the time to defend our region’s natives from its smothering embrace.

Coastal morning glory (also known as mile-a-minute) and its hinterland cousin, blue morning glory, are now in full bloom: perfect targets for identification and management.

Both vines grow rapidly to smother our native trees, shrubs and groundcovers, depriving them of sunlight and nutrients.

The distinctive funnel-shaped flowers make both species easy to identify as they overrun trees across the region.