The current residents of the Wombat Hilton arrived as a pair about two and a half months ago.
Rumble and Tumble are not brother and sister but they have been reared together since they were rescued in similar situations. Both their mothers were killed by cars.
Apparently wombats raised together like this don't mate with each other but it's apparent that Rumble and Tumble find each other's presence reassuring.
We thought that being together these two would support each other through the move and that's turned out to be true. (In the picture above that's porridge oats on the wombat's nose.)
Normally we don't take wombats until they are almost ready for release. At that point they're usually big enough and old enough to be self sufficient. We then provide a home for them for about six weeks until they are weaned of their habits of human dependency and appear capable of looking after themselves.
Rumble and Tumble's carer had taken on a lot of animals so we agreed to take these two off her hands early to give her a break.
At first the wombats were timid and watchful. They raced to their burrow as soon as they heard (or smelt) us coming. Over time they acclimatised and they are now brave and curious.
Every day when Farmdoc delivers food he collects their droppings. This really puzzles Rumble and Tumble. All our previous wombats have poohed around the perimeter of the enclosure. This pair always use the kennel. Perhaps they like the privacy.
My guess is that Rumble and Tumble will be released around the end of the year. Then they'll have the run of the property and be able to meet up with the wild population. I wonder what they'll think of the big world out there.
