I honk for geese!

I don’t know what it is, but Amber and I seem to attract lost animals. Many’s the time we have rescued dogs wandering around the road and taken them to the nearest vet.  But it’s not tales of wandering canines I wish to share today, but more unusual species…

We were heading out of Port Stephens on our way north one day. Amber had just settled in with her DS and the traffic was thinning as I moved further from town.  One last roundabout to circumnavigate and we were on the straight highway.

It was then I saw it. I flash of brown, black and white on the verge; No tail; Stumpy legs. “Oh, no!” I thought… not a guinea pig. An internal battle raged then between my angelic self and pragmatic self who really wanted to get a few ‘k’s under our belts.  I glanced over, and Amber hadn’t seen it. I could simply keep driving.

Why I didn’t, I will never know. I turned the car around and came to rest on the grassy verge where the flash of colour had disappeared into the bush. Amber was immediately alert and I found myself telling her what I had seen… much to the dismay of my internal pragmatist.

We spent the next half hour trying to coax this furry pet from the thick brambles. He or she had obviously been there a while and a warren of trails disappeared into a virtual guinea pig city. Not a place he or she was going to leave in a hurry. We dug out apples from the esky and tried bribing. All the time I was wondering what ever we would do if we actually caught it! (The nearby house seemed the most likely choice).  Once it became evident this was and impossible mission, I had to convince Amber the guinea pig might actually like living here… and reluctantly, I drag her away.

Then there was the goose…

We were just north of Gympie for that one. A domestic goose with a broken wing had slid down the escarpment onto the edge of the road and was trying desperately to get back up. 

How ever do you save a wounded goose, I hear you ask? Luckily, on that occasion we had a friend travelling with us. We tossed the car blanket over its head and tentatively slid out hands under its belly. I hadn’t quite realised how heavy a goose is! Especially when it’s sitting on your lap in the front seat! While my friend drove, a kept the blanket tight to avoid being pecked to death and we made our way to a local wildlife carer we had tracked down by phone mid-operation!

Sometimes diversion from your chosen path yields rewards and this was such an occasion. We were welcomed into the home of two wonderfully kind people and spent the next hour hand feeding joeys and being followed around by a tame duck!  Not a travel experience we had planned, but one we will always remember!