Words by Serika McBride
Photography by Offroad Images and the Marsupial Soceity of Australia

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Small or Unfurred Joeys (Pinkies)

An unfurred or newly furred joey will have its mouth permanently fused to the mother’s nipple. Do not attempt to remove them from the teat.

The first preference is to load the whole roo and take it with you (vets are trained in removing tiny joeys off the teat). But, of course, this is not always the ideal situation.

If you have to remove the joey, get someone to help you by pulling the pouch as far open as possible, or even cutting the pouch open with scissors being careful not to harm the joey. Snip or cut the teat off as close to the mother’s body as possible.

Leave the teat in the joey’s mouth for the time being. Pin the teat to the towel wrapped around the joey so it cannot be inhaled, and place the pin on the outside.

Scoop both hands around the joey and lift it out. Avoid exposing it to cold air and have a jumper close to the pouch ready to go. Wrap the joey and if possible, put the bundle inside your shirt.

An unfurred joey is unable to create or regulate its own body heat, so you have to provide it. Most people don’t carry a hot water bottle in their 4WD, so try to get the joey as close as possible to your body to warm it (your heartbeat will also sooth it somewhat).

Turn on your car heater, and toss on an extra sweater if needed. Cup your hands/arms around it.

Unless you are experienced and carry the necessary gear and formula with you, do not try to feed the joey. They are lactose intolerant and have very specific feeding needs. Leave it to the experts, but do try to find help with a degree of urgency.

Baby joeys are cute and we’d all like to have one as a pet, but they are very hard to raise and often fall ill. It’s not just about sticking a bottle in their face.

I won’t go into details, but the mother does quite a few really disgusting things to keep her joey alive and well. Unless you have a cast-iron stomach and 20 hours a day to spare, you won’t make a good surrogate mum.

Best leave it to experienced carers. They will ensure your joey makes it through for release back into the wild later on.

From Experience

On a recent work trip, we had the misfortune to hit a roo. I’ve dealt with a few joeys over the years, and I have found many dead ones left in the pouch after their mothers were killed.

Did you know a joey can survive in its dead mother’s pouch for up to three days in favourable conditions? They slowly die of starvation or the cold, or are attacked by crows and foxes.

The older joeys cannot get out to save themselves due to the pouch constricting after the mother dies.

It only takes five minutes to jump out of the car and check. When we inspected the roo, she was already dead, and as I dragged her off the road, a little foot and tail poked out of her pouch.

I was lucky as the little fellow was fully furred and off the teat. He hissed and spat as I pulled him out, but I was relieved to see that he didn’t appear injured.

Once wrapped up in my jumper in the nice warm car, he relaxed a little and busied himself. He alternately snored, peed in my jumper and glared at me during the 100km trip into Cobar.

After failing to find a vet, we dropped him off at the Cobar police station. The officers then kindly took the time to track down a Parks and Wildlife officer to come and collect him.

It delayed us by an hour, but we felt good about since we had done the responsible thing.

The new Pajero we were driving copped an almighty wallop. However, we were lucky the roo hit on one side and missed the intercooler and radiator. After some quick remodelling, we were on our way again.

The SWB was high enough in the front end to save us from a bonnet launch and tough enough to avoid too much damage. Sadly, we couldn’t say the same for the little grey roo.

Roos tend to be on the hop around dusk and dawn

Contacts

For more information check out www.wires.com.au or contact your local National Parks and Wildlife Service.

A big thankyou goes to Bob Cleaver of the Marsupial Society of Australia for helping with pictures and information.

This dedicated group supplies information and support for those wonderful people who save and raise injured wildlife. The task requires many hours of hard work often at their own expense.

If giving emergency care to injured or orphaned wildlife until an experience carer can take them, the MSA website has a wealth of information in regards to care and contact details for assistance.

The Marsupial Society of Australia
PO Box 390
Willaston
SA, 5118
Web: www.marsupialsociety.org

Bob also has his own comprehensive website regarding care of other marsupials, especially wombats. Check out www.wombatrise.com.