43- Slow Down. Wild lives matter!

Pip (short for Pip squeak) is a Bennett’s wallaby and came to me as a “Pinky”. This is how we affectionately describe this stage of a joey’s development - she had yet to grow fur and was completely naked. She was actually under the weight at which a Joey is considered viable to raise but because of the circumstances of her rescue she was given the chance to live and thrive. Her mother was hit by a car and died. Pip was protected by her mothers body inside her pouch. Pinky’s mouths are firmly attached to their mothers teat and it is important that they be removed by an experienced person to avoid damage to the joey. The person who found her on the roadside new this and took the mother and Pip in the back of their car to the local vets. She was removed from the pouch safely, gradually warmed and re-hydrated. This was the beginning of her journey.

It can take almost a year to raise a joey like Pip and starts with around the clock bottle feeds with special formulas developed for each stage of development.

Every Joey has a definite personality and Pip was, and still, is a very confident girl to the extent that she made her indignation known if her bottle was so much as a minute late! 

She calls the bush around my home her home and often joins me when she hears me come outside. She’s still a confident and bossy character. She is the queen of the photo bomb.

She has raised joeys of her own - see sign number 56.

Bennett's Wallabies are a medium sized Macropod Marsupial. They have mostly tawny grey fur, with a white chest and belly, dark brown muzzle, paws and feet. They are also known as red-necked wallabies because of the reddish-brown fur on their necks and shoulders. They carry their young in their pouch for up to nine months after which Joey continues to suckle for anywhere between three to nine months.

Bennetts Wallabies are generally found in bushlands, and grasslands, but they are increasingly found in urban areas due to habitat loss. They are herbivores and feed on a variety of plants, including grasses, leaves, and bark. Bennetts Wallabies are most active between Dusk and Dawn.