Rae and Joe have been developing a wildlife shelter at their property in Minyip.

The couple have welcomed native animals from wallabies to possums – and even reptiles – to stay until they are ready to leave the Aussie bush sanctuary and re-join the bush land they came from.

The couple have an affinity for native wildlife.

Rae said, when she was little, wounded sparrows would often fall out of the shed where she would pick them up and create a bed to make sure they were safe.

“I would get up the next morning and my dad said they had grown up really quickly overnight and flown away,” she said. 

“I know now he probably did something horrible because they were sparrows.

“I’ve always had an absolute love for the Australian wildlife.” 

Digger the swamp wallaby and Billie the eastern grey kangaroo – both roughly eight months old – are currently being cared for by Joe and Rae, along with a younger eastern grey called Banjo. 

Digger was from the Stawell area and was found by passersby near his mother who had been killed by a moving vehicle. 

“The people were wonderful who found him because they actually saw him hopping on the road,” she said.

“Thankfully they hopped out quick and grabbed him, they couldn’t save his mum but they saved him.

“He came in on Anzac Day, so that’s why his name is Digger.” 

There are five native wildlife shelters in the Wimmera and each shelter specialises in a typical field.

Rae said they all had an unconditional love for Australian animals. 

There is a shelter in Gerang Gerung run by Stacey, which homes raptors among other animals, and another in Rainbow run by Sam, who is training to be a bat carer.

The shelter in Stawell, run by Michelle, is the final shelter before animals are released back into the wild. There is also a shelter in Horsham. 

Billie and Banjo both came from the Bendigo area. Rae said the carer in Bendigo currently had 28 joeys in care, so they offered to help her out. 

Rae said Digger would be in care with herself and Joe for roughly six to 10 more months until he’s developed enough to go back into the wild. 

She said they would have Billie and Banjo for a much shorter period. 

“We’ll only have Billie until the other shelters are ready to take her in because you have to raise roos together,” she said.

“The other carers who have roos at the moment, in another few weeks, will have her when they are ready so they can be released as a mob.

“Digger will be fine to go off on his own once he is old enough. He won’t be let out here on his own, he will go back to Stawell with our friend Michelle; she’ll feed him a few feeds a day and then release him.” 

Rae has spent her entire life working to preserve and protect the Australian bush. 

“The wildlife is absolutely imperative, if we don’t look after the wildlife there is no future for our kids or our grandkids… and to have the wildlife, of course, we need the bush,” she said. 

“My working life has been spent trying to protect all of the bush for these creatures. When you see them and realise they are all specialised little creatures that need special habitats… if we don’t keep that balance right there will be nowhere for these to go.” 

Rae said foxes were one of the most dangerous animals for an abandoned baby kangaroo or wallaby in the wild. 

“If you actually ever observe the dead roos on the side of the road, or anywhere for that matter, the foxes go straight through the mums pouch,” she said. 

“The pouch is such a strong muscle that the joeys are often still alive. I stopped for a dead roo on the Dooen bends one time about 18 months ago. There was this roo splatted all over the road, all the other cars were driving around her. I thought someone would have an accident so I stopped and moved her off the road.” 

Rae said the kangaroo was in a gruesome state, with blood and innards covering the road. 

As Rae was pulling the kangaroo off the road, a moment of joy and happiness swept over her when she saw two small feet tuck over the brim of the pouch. 

“I looked inside and there was a perfectly healthy joey who had fur,” she said. 

“We called him Rumple. It’s a horrible thing when you have to pull roos off the road, but I was so excited when I saw these little feet, then I was sad because I thought he was bound to be damaged… but he wasn’t, he was as good as gold.” 

Rae said herself and Joe had travelled across the countryside at all hours of the night to pick up abandoned animals. 

“We just drove back home from Melbourne and as soon as we walked in the door we got a phone call and had to drive up to Jeparit at 11pm,” she said. 

“Then you come home and have to make formula up and get them warm and then you can feed them, because you can’t feed a cold animal.”

Rae said support from Wimmera vets had been astronomical in helping the small network of carers achieve their goal. 

“Everyone should have a pillow slip in their car, because if you find anything you can pop your hands in the pillow slip, check the pouch and then take it straight to your vet,” she said.