Ronnie Blue the Red Kangaroo
I figured nothing would happen on my return to Perth.
I booked a return trip with Red Earth Safaris. No sightseeing, just driving the 1200kms to Perth over 2 days. Food and Accommodation were included too (bloody good value at $100!) It was just a case of sitting on the bus for the next 2 days.
Until, in the middle of nowhere, Dave the driver suddenly slowed, stopped and turned the bus around. "I've gotta know," he said, "I thought I saw something in the pouch."
We pulled up along side a dead kangaroo. Later Dave said it'd obviously been there a long time because it was so cold. There were two little legs poking out of the pouch. Dave got out and felt the cold pouch and gave the legs a little tug. They started kicking, so Dave pulled a tiny little orphaned roo out...
Dave checked him for any broken bones or bleeding, and thankfully, apart from being very cold, he looked alright. He was bundled up in bags and blankets to mimic being in the pouch. Kangaroos shouldn't come out until they're around twelve months old, as their bodies still aren't developed enough. Dave reckoned 'Ronnie' was about 4 months old. (Apparently there was a Norwegian guy called Ronnie who always used to sit in the front seat where the roo now was)
After a couple of hours driving. We took Ronnie to a service station Dave knew had adopted baby kangaroos in the past. They said to feed him certain type of warm baby milk...
By this point, Dave said, if he lived, he would adopt him. He told us how a couple of nights before he'd had a dream that he'd saved a joey from a pouch. "Now I don't believe in any of that crap." He said "But i was thinking about it back in Exmouth, about what a weird dream it was. Then, when I saw the dead roo with something in the pouch, well... I thought... for the sake of 2 minutes.... and now we've saved that little fella's life. Hopefully. If he pulls through."
Ronnie is a Red Kangaroo. When he's fully grown, he'll be anything up to 9ft tall (and able to disembowel anyone he doesn't agree with). Dave is gonna look after him for the first year or so until hes big enough to look after himself, then give him to a sanctuary where he can enjoy the rest of his kangaroo life.
This is Sophie, his surrogate mum all the way to Perth. (Covering his eyes up seemed to help him drink as he wasn't used to the light)
That night, as chief Uncle Matt (travelling), I was holding him to keep him warm until Sophie got back from wherever she went. Dave brought some milk out so we started feeding him. 'Learn to Fly' by the Foo Fighters came on the radio. I bought the Foo's album before I came away because all the songs are really upbeat and all about being 'mad fer it' (as Oasis would say.) I never dreamed I'd be listening to it while cradling and bottle feeding a premature baby kangaroo!
Over dinner, Dave said he wanted to call him 'Bluey' as anything in Australia that's Red, they call 'Blue'. We decided to combine them both, and call him Ronnie Blue, The Red Kangaroo.
Add a 6 pack of cider, a bottle of vodka and a girl called Gemma who was on holiday from uni for a couple of weeks, who kept me up till 3 in the morning (we had a 6am start) and it turned out to be a pretty cool return to Perth! Anyway, last I heard, Ronnie and Dave are doing fine. Though Dave's misses is still not talking to either...
Got back to Perth and met up with the gang who were all doing the same things at the Underground.
See what I mean about the Littlest Hobo?