Zoe Moffatt
When Sunbury resident and wildlife carer Lindy Velinski received a call about a joey rescue, she was heading home to work on her garden.
Nearby, close to the boom gate crossing between Sunbury and Diggers Rest, Metro train employee Steve Roze was doing a track inspection when he noticed a kangaroo with a joey moving in her pouch.
Lindy moved quickly and was at the tracks in no time. Even though she had been caring for joeys at home for the past three years, it was her first call out.
“There was a construction crew working at the boom gates, trying to find out where this joey was and how I can safely get access,” Lindy said.
“Luckily, Steve was able to assist me, and with an escort, I drove along the tracks for about one to two kilometres… to retrieve the joey.
“When I saw it, I instantly noticed it was a wallaby, another first for me. Sadly the mother was not alive, but you could see the joey vigorously moving around in the pouch.”
With the joey covered in bull ants which also crawled up Lindy’s arms, they moved back across the tracks for Steve and his team to safely remove the ants.
“The amazing team at Metro trains asked if they could keep in contact with me to hear how the joey is going and then off I went,” she said.
Lindy sought assistance from another carer, Annie Williams, and judging by the joey’s weight of just 603 grams, they concluded his age to be approximately six months.
“Annie has the joey for the next six months and then he will get re-released into the wild if he’s healthy and well,” Lindy said.
“He’s doing really well. He was crying the first day, probably from the ant bites, but that settled the next day.
“He’s fed every four hours and is toileting, which means everything inside is looking good. Normally it’s around two weeks for him to settle into a new routine and the shock to wear off.”
