Slept reasonably okay last night considering the racket from all the wildlife, The small Wallaroos jump over the roofs of the caravans when they feel like it but I ended up putting my ear pugs in so I couldn’t hear much. Was paranoid about getting bit by mosquito’s with the windows open so closed em but it was too hot so I might risk it tonight.
Woke up at 6am so I could get a shower and breakfast before we started. Then Saskia showed me the routine, starting with feeding the baby cows their powdered substitute milk mix. Next we cleaned all the birds water dishes and fed them fresh water and food. Harry was busy feeding the birds of prey with either live animals of dead depending if they needed to learn to hunt or not. Some can’t be released into the wild so they can be fed dead animals. I saw him throwing a couple of guinea pigs against the ground to feed to some of the bigger eagles, which took me a bit by surprise but tried not to look bothered.
After feeding all the birds we did the same to the kangaroos and then had to check that there was at least one live guinea pig in the python’s pen and leave some food for it so the guinea pig didn’t starve. There had been 4 in there at one point but now there was only one left. I might feel a bit mean when I have to introduce another one but I guess it’s the circle of life.
After everything was fed we then cleaned out the big cows as well as the 2 calf’s that Harry is trying to sell. Got rid of all the mucky straw and put down fresh sawdust instead. We then had to move a load of corrugated metal sheets from one part of the property over to another where it would be used to strengthen the roofs of some of the enclosures.
Harry had to nip out as he’d had a call from someone about a snake under their property and they wanted it removed. He would normally only take in injured animals but rather than let them hurt it, he would catch it and then release it in the national park area.
When Harry returned we ate lunch, which was a ham and cheese sandwich followed by a kind of meat salad he’d made. This was chunks of boiled beef with slices of onion marinated in olive oil and vinegar.
After lunch Harry said there wasn’t anything to do and was just grateful we’d shifted all the sheet metal as it took ages. The 4 baby roo’s were due another feed and Saskia normally does this so I asked if I could help. Not sure if she was happy about it though as I guess she only got to do 2 instead of 4 and its quite a nice job. After you feed each one you then have to stroke their face for a bit to soothe them and then get some tissue and massage their “exit pipe”. This is to simulate what their mother would do in the wild as she would lick their “pipe” to get them to wee. Took a bit of getting used to but got there in the end and had my two back in their pouches and content.
After lunch I got to work reinforcing the Kangaroos enclosure as they had jumped into the fence a few times and knocked it down. I didn’t realise how hot the sun was until I started that, so hopped back to the caravan and got some cream on and a cap. At about 3.30pm a guy called Warwick came round, who’s Harry's friend and is doing the market on Saturday (my day off). I’ve said I would go with him as he needs to try and sell raffle tickets and collect money for the sanctuary. At about 4pm I went and got showered and changed ready to help with dinner, but Karin had already got it all sorted by the time I got to the house.
At 5pm it was time to eat dinner and Karin had made pasta dish with sliced beef and mushrooms and peppers in a garlic cream sauce, topped with cheese and cooked in the oven. The meat was really lean so I ate plenty of it. After dinner we had cream cakes and then watched neighbours, which goes off at 7pm. This is then kinda the cue for bed lol. There is a caravan where you can go and watch telly but I figure I might as well try and fit into the routine for a bit while I work out how tiring things are. I’m sure a bit of a tipple would help me sleep but they don’t seem to be real drinkers as such (I have noticed Karin and Harry have a drink of something with dinner though but they keep it a bit hush hush lol).
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