WOMBAT CHRONICLES: a book by Margi Hann-Fyme
Another visit to the Central Market.
"That's my weekly order again . . . thank you very much."
And as often as possible . . . Helen Heide and her husband Manfred . . . introduce the latest member of their family to the local stall owners.
"That's Millie . . ."
"Yer that's Millie."
"She's gorgeous."
"She's beautiful."
"Isn't she beautiful."
Millie is a southern hairy-nosed wombat. She's a long way from home. Her mother was hit by a car on the west coast of Eyre Peninsula . . . and Millie . . . found in her other's pouch . . . . was flown to Adelaide.
Under the expert care of Manfred and Helen . . . she has a good chance of survival . . . like another housemate at Manfred's wombat Hilton.
"Come on then you big lump."
Meet Naparji . . . her mother was another road victim. Naparji came here weighting just 900 grams and now she's almost 25 kilos.
"So how deeply do they burrow?"
"In the wild they would go down maybe a metre and a half, two metres . . . but some of those major warren systems are hundreds and hundreds of years old."
Life with Manfred . . . means Naparji has not had your average wombat upbringing.
Naparji loves a cuddle . . . I've hand raised her from very small . . . and she used to sit with me in a chair and watch television at night time . . . in my arm . . . with this big wombat sitting on my lap fast asleep . . . and she loved it.
Manfred Heide . . . immigrated to Australia in 1969 as an engineer . . . and in retirement his life has been given over to the love and care of Australian fauna . . . some very heavy and others very noisy.
"Shoosh quiet please."
"You're a good girl . . . you're a good girl and I'll give you a lift."
"Ah, where's the wombat, where is the wombat."
"We're going to be food friends . . ."
"You're a nice wombat . . . that's it . . . a nice wombat."
This little darling . . . Streaky . . . came from . . . you guessed it . . . Streaky Bay. She was found wondering on the road to Venus Bay. And now Streaky is bound for her own pen for a period of observation and quarantine.
"There you go . . . off you go."
"This is the first time she's been in here?"
"Yes . . . no, no you're not coming out again . . . off you go."
Manfred's engineering experience has certainly come in handy. He's built all this . . . from the enclosure for the West Australian Euro . . . to the labrynth of tunnels and cages for his beloved wombats. It's all voluntary work.
A labour of love . . . which never stops . . . day or night. From the office the video camera keeps watch on Manfred's babies . . . like Bianca . . . a waddling wonder . . . known as a golden wombat.
"They like a lot of interaction. However, the round bit at the back is alright, it's the sharp end at the front you have to be aware of."
"They've got extremely sharp teeth because being a grazing animal . . . they need to cut the grass off very . . . and wombats like to interact with people . . . I'll show you what they do to me."
"This is just little nips. They don't do it in anger . . . they just do it for communication . . . they say here I am play with me . . . I give you a little nip I give you a little nip, or you play with me."
"So that's being friendly . . . that's being friendly."
"Great."
And soon Bianca wants to communicate just a little too much.
"Oops another one."
"You're too big to play . . . too big to play . . ."
Oh, laughter as wombat jumps.
As we wander through Manfred's maze of wombat tunnels we meet the heavy weights.
"This is Wiley . . . he's a male . . . a fairly big boy."
"He is isn't he."
"And he's got big teeth . . . and I don't even go in there."
"Wiley has a ferocious appetite."
"Oop Oop."
"It's alright . . . alright . . . I'm giving it back to you . . . yes alright I know . . . look at the teeth you have."
Manfred knows all about them. And he knows all about Rambo. A common wombat . . . who looks like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth . . . but the glass enclosure offers the most comfortable way of making acquaintances.
"Hello Rambo . . . now can you see the difference . . . Rambo has a nose like a Koala . . . and a leathery patch . . . have a look at the ears . . . they're nice and thick and roundish . . . short and the fur very coarse . . . like a brush . . . that's the difference between a hair nose and a common wombat."
"And this is a common ?"
"That's a common wombat."
"But hairy nosed or common . . . they all receive the same loving care and attention . . . as Millie."
"As you can see, she loves her bottle . . . she loves her feed."
"Look finished."
"That was quick."
"Oh, she's a guzzler."
Manfred and Helen . . . and Millie will be at the Stirling Library on Friday the fifth of October for the launch of the Wombat Chronicles, a book by Margi Hann-Fyme. It starts at 1pm . . . with an introduction to Millie and a children's party.
And they'll also be at an event called Wildshow at the Berri Club on Wednesday evening on October 10.
10th October The Berri Club Wildshow - as part of the National Parks and Wildlife SA. 7.00pm. Sturt Highway.
