This post contains confronting images… So don’t read it if you’re feeling fragile
Animal welfare is the value I hold highest.
It’s what makes me tick and what got me into this mess.
But please know that the animal welfare bandwagon is different from the animal rights one. I’ll do a proper explanation later but basically, I’m OK with deadness but I’m not OK with suffering.
Anyhoo, last weekend I noticed a wombat while tractoring through my paddock. I knew instantly it wasn’t right and went to see what was going on.
Aside from being out in the daytime, it was sitting strangely and as I approached could see it had a high respiration rate… I got within a few metres and called Deb, our local wildlife volunteer.
“Hey, I’ve got an odd looking wombat infront of me… Are there any new viruses around? It’s breathing heavily but doesn’t have mange and a few weeks ago found a dead one in a really strange spot.. I thought it was weird but wonder if something’s around”
Deb told me that she hadn’t heard of anything but would investigate and asked if I could keep an eye on it over the coming days.
I’d thought it might have been hit by a car but as it ambled off it didn’t seem to be lame… So off I went about my day.
Then four days later, there was the wombat in the same place…Only this time it was clearly incapacitated and dragging his legs.
I called Deb again.. and despite being on leave (from being an UNPAID wildlife volunteer) she came straight over. There was a bit of chatter about potential neurological issues with wombats so she wanted to take a closer look.
She assessed it had ‘injuries incompatible with life’… so was euthanised.
When we checked it, instead of finding a broken leg – we found a hole in it’s spine. And using a stick (as you do) I poked into the hole and pulled out maggots of all different sizes.
It was alarming but not ‘stop everything and lose your shit’ alarming…mainly because life dictates that weekdays are for work – so we went about our days..
But as the day wore on, it got nigglier and I started to wonder about the weird dead wombat from a few weeks earlier. I say weird because it didn’t have mange, looked healthy and was just lying dead in the middle of the open grass… I even went and checked it.. just to see if I could see any bullet wounds.
Sadly it was a bit ‘far gone’
But later that night, Deb messaged and said she’d circulated the images to her network of wildlife experts they confirmed that that day’s wombat’s injury was nearly certainly a bullet wound.
So with a mixture of horror and understanding of the importance of evidence (ya girl loves a crime podcast) I realised I should go and collect my deceased marsupial friends before the foxes did.
So off I went, in the pitch black and cold on a retrieval mission.. and let me tell you it was fucking horrific.
I find darkness and deadness pretty creepy… but this was a whole new level.
Their bodies were heavy AF so I made a tarpaulin sleigh so I could drag and load them into the ute. The fresh one was still oozing and the older one was leaking decay juice… It was 10/10 terrifying AND revolting.
It wasn’t til I got back home I even considered what to do next… So I tarp sleighed them into a makeshift mortuary (dog pen) to keep them away from predators.
But sadly, life doesn’t imitate CSI and even though the cruelty case had been raised – the whole bullet checking ballistics thing is a bucket of shit… Which has left me with the unenviable task of tarp-sledding the even more decayed wombats back out… Which I haven’t done yet.
But TBH, the stinky death presence worries me much less than what it means.
I’m horrified that the poor maggotty wombat spent at least 4 days with a bullet wound in it’s back… and from a personal perspective, this has really rattled me.
Since being on the farm by myself I’ve been scared and nervous. Sure.
But mostly because of the potential of doing something dumb and hurting myself. I’ve worried about the drought, about machinery and about my own incompetence but never felt fearful of people.
This week that changed.
A few days ago I heard the horses going nuts. For the first time in 2 years they were really going bananas (especially the screechy ponies)… I drove out to check on them twice that night (which I have NEVER done before.. like ever) and even thought to myself “It’s only a human that would make them scream like that” but disregarded that thought pretty quickly.
It wasn’t til the dots joined that I started to feel real fear.
What kind of person shoots a wombat? They’re slow and fat and not remotely aggressive. They’re not edible (I assume) but the most troubling thing is comprehending what kind of person doesn’t ensure a proper kill? Especially when it’s been shot in the back.
I’m currently doing my firearms licensing… but even without that, it’s giving me Milat vibes.
Anyway, as I write this, my yard smells like putrification and I’m mostly furious more than scared. The police and wildlife vic are investigating but sadly neither want my hard earned evidence so I’ll deal with it tomorrow.
It’s been a week, I’ve been slow at packing orders but I hope you understand xx
Fucking men. Fucking farmers. They’re shit cunts.
I came here to offer support but your comment is absolutely disgraceful. I am from a cattle farming family. What people like you do not understand is that all of the animals on our farm are treated better than many humans treat their children. If you met one bad plumber would you think they are all shit. I truly hope that you grow all of your own food and eat your own produced meat. You would not want to make a comment like that and then rely on farmers who are the backbone of this country to live and breathe.
I hope that you are one of the good ones. I truly do. The abuse I take on online from many farmers because I believe there are ways to co-exist with our wildlife is extreme. In fact some days the toll it takes on my mental health is huge. And this is how I landed at earthling and Equus. Because here the wildlife are valued for more than pet food and international imports.
Horrific is right. Cruel. Not to mention scary.
Yes, this is crap and their are a few possibilities. Not all men are responsible, could of been well off properly and travelling a considerable distance to what it considered a safe spot or exhaustion, yes they are native and are protected but some find them destructive in digging up house foundations and causing considerable ground damage but that far from gives anyone the rights to shoot a wombat. I doubt this is a professional hit as a real hunter knows the importance of a head/heart clean shot so would think this a a weekend city slicker warrior with no brains who was probably doing a two week hoilday visiting to a farm about 10ks away. Be a graizer I’d be touching base with your neighbours so they are aware and perhaps be able to help piece things together and if one had had a weekend warrior visit they can ensure they don’t return.