We got there early one Saturday morning and success - no one in the spot we had eyed off for many visits. Just after lunch, we spotted our neighbour across the other side of the creek looking for wood. Then he hurriedly came back, asking if we had any gloves. "Yes," I said.  "Well, there's a possum caught on the barb wire fence!" Being an unfulfilled vet, with thermal gloves for winter walking and a spare towel under arm, I soon followed Darren back over the creek. Bob followed with the digital camera.  About 200 metres in, there it was - doing arm twists on the newly strung high tension barbed wire fence. 

To start with, the little bundle of fur bit furiously into my gloves, but gentle talking and quiet stroking soon calmed a scared baby. One of its little feet was quite blue - obviously no blood getting through there. With extreme care I managed to get it unhooked from one set of spikes by twisting the little body around the fence - probably just undid its own twists.  However, the other set of prongs was well and truly embedded, with no way of seeing where it was hooked. Cutting the fence was the solution and fortunately Ranger Garth had been altered by Darren's wife. After some consideration, he got a length of heavy duty wire, wound it around section of fence we needed to cut and clamped it. That way, hopefully, the fence would not twang back into any of the humans. Meanwhile Peter or Peta got named. The gloves had to come off to hold the little body with a towel wrapped around its head, to keep it calm. Sugar gliders don't give in without a fight - and my index finger got a huge bite - and yes for such a tiny mouth we had to force it open to unclamp the jaws. We cut three of the four barbs but the last barb was into a very fleshy area. Garth did his trick with the barbed wire - no it didn't twang into anyone - and we found the last barb was deep in under the arm in the wing of the glider. As you can see in the photo Peta (yes it was a female) hang on furiously when released from that terrible trauma. Garth rang the vet at Beaudesert and off Peta went for surgery. 

The view from the front door!

Swimming is very safe in summer

What an idyllic campsite!

The road back to Kerry and Beaudesert

Did I want to bring her home - yes - of course I did - but these marsupials are very territorial, so we couldn't. The ring tail possum who lives next door might have objected. So we had to be satisfied that one little gal was saved and will have her day in the area in the spring.

Chrissy Eustace

Note:- We ran a detailed story on Darlington in the April 2001 Newsletter

Click on the compass for a map of the local area