It’s been a happy ending for a inquisitive little creature which lost is way and found himself trapped in suburbia.
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“It was about 9pm on Saturday night (November 3) when my wife Brigitte hear a bang on our front door,” Heath McGuire said.
“She went to have a look and started screaming.”
Hanging and clinging on the front screen door of the McGuire’s Tuncurry home was a large, male koala.
“I just couldn’t believe it,” Heath said.
Heath was surprised when he rescued the frightened and confused marsupial that it didn’t fight back.
“I took him from the door, then gave him a cuddle and drink.”
He described the much loved animal as soft and furry and said it smelled like Eucalyptus.
In the hour it took for the Koala Care Rescue team to travel from Taree, Heath and his new best friend sat and bonded.
“He never tried to scratch me, or try to escape.”
An amazing experience, considering Koalas are wild animals, so like all wild animals they are not friendly and are known for their sharp claws and ability to urinate over dignitaries.
Heath wondered if the koala become disorientated during Saturday’s searing heat while searching for water, or was on the hunt for a female.
“It has been an unbelievable experience; it was a shock more than anything to see him in town.”
Following a health check, he was successfully released back into the wild on Monday afternoon by Koala Care Rescue.
Some facts
- The koala is a marsupial mammal.
- They are warm-blooded.
- The koala's young is called a cub.
- The koala's young are born alive.
- Koalas drink milk from the mother.
- The koala breaths oxygen from air.
- The koala might look cuddly but the koala has very sharp teeth and very sharp claws.
- The koalas have white on the underside and grey on the rest of its body.
- The koala has big ears and a big nose.
- The mother has a pouch.
- The koala has very thick fur.
- The adult koala generally grows to 25-30 inches long.
- The koala is very small when it's just born.
- After one month the cub is one centimetre long.
- The koala weighs 15 to 30 pounds.
- One cub is born at a time.
- The koala cub stays in the mother's pouch for five months.
- The koala cub is blind when it's born.
- Koalas breed in the summer.
- Koalas live for 20 or more years.
- The koala can run as fast as a rabbit.
- Koalas sleep for up to 19 hours.
- Koalas live on the East Coast.
- They live and sleep in the eucalyptus trees. It's hot, light and dry here.
Jeanene Duncan
Jeanene has more than 40 years experience as a regional and rural journalist starting at The Land Newspaper. She also worked for Stock Journal Newspaper (SA), McPherson, Fairfax newspapers and Rural Press, and contributed to various magazines.
Jeanene has more than 40 years experience as a regional and rural journalist starting at The Land Newspaper. She also worked for Stock Journal Newspaper (SA), McPherson, Fairfax newspapers and Rural Press, and contributed to various magazines.
