By Eleanor Wilson
For wildlife rescue organisations Locky’s Legacy and Wild Incident Safe Haven (WISH), caring for Australia’s cherished fauna is a round the clock job.
Now, thanks to the Akoonah Park Men’s Shed (APMS), a series of possum boxes will make their jobs a little easier.
APMS president Maury Hall met with WISH’s Sarah and Sheryle Cooke, as well as Locky’s Legacy owner Lyndel Charmers, to present them with a total of 20 boxes to aid in the rescue and rehoming of wild possums that cross their paths.
The Men’s Shed members constucted a series of both ringtail possum boxes and brushtail possum boxes, which are larger in size, from plywood donated from the Vermont Men’s Shed.
Mr Hall said the wood was originally sourced from excess supplies used for caravan flooring.
The boxes give the possums a safe space to be relocated in, Ms Charmers explained.
“It’s a really important part of our wildlife rehabilitation to be able to release them with somewhere to live, because when they’re coming in from such a small age, they haven’t learned from their mum how to build a drey, or how to survive out there so if you’ve got some form of protection, that means we can safely put them up in a tree and give them a chance,” she said.
Ms Charmers runs Locky’s Legacy from her 18-acre property in Upper Pakenham, where she rescues and rehabilitates wombats, kangaroos, echidnas, galahs and cockatoos to name a few.
Mother-daughter duo Sheryle and Sarah Cooke have operated WISH from Berwick for four years.
“I go out and rescue at all hours of the morning and all hours of the night. Last night we went to rescue a wombat that was stuck in a drain,” Sarah said.
“At the moment I’m caring for five roos…they’re on four-hourly feeds six times a day at the moment.
“We get call-outs from Victoria Police, Wildlife Victoria, fire brigades, members of the police…I’m always getting tagged on Facebook as well.”
Sarah estimates she has rescued and cared for over 100 possums in the last year.
“We’re really grateful that the Men’s Shed have done this…it’s really good to see that the community is behind what we’re doing,” Sheryle said.
