Gaylene Parker - the WIRES wombat lady

Gaylene Parker was a guest speaker at REPS tonight, and she packed the house.
This lady is something of a household name in the Southern Highlands as the principal foster carer for rescued Wombats in this area.

She was featured in an ABC Australian Story which was aired in 2002. That story was based around James Woodford's story "The Secret Life of Wombats", which featured the story of P.J. Nicholson, who as a schoolboy had "researched" Wombats by climbing down their burrows. Gaylene does not recommend that as an approach to Wombats.

However, there is little she does not know about how to care for sick, injured or orphaned Wombats. She has apparently rehabilitated 500 wombats.

You can read more about the life of Wombats on the ABC's Scribbly Gum (ABC Science Unit) website.

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If you find a dead Wombat, and discover that it is a female with a joey in the pouch, the safest and best thing to do is to ring WIRES Wingecarribee. The number is 4862 1788.

The tiny little "pinkies" - young Wombat joeys which have not yet formed fur, are extremely delicate creatures, and are temperature sensitive, and if they are removed from the pouch, they can be damaged by abrupt removal from the teat of the mother, and as they cannot regulate their own temperature, they can be subject to heat loss, and/or shock. Best to get expert advice and help.

Of course, you need to be able to describe exactly where the dead Wombat mother is located, or preferably be able to guide the rescuer to the site. "Somewhere along the left of Tourist Road" is not precise enough.