Mother koala and baby make a house call

Mother Koala and baby visit my home.

The other night, at the height of a vicious storm, I had startling house visitors. I took this photograph of a mother koala and her baby terrified by the storm and trying to get into the house. Mother koala was literally pawing on my door and pacing back and forth. It was as if she was the universal animal mother imploring “Please let me in so my baby will be safe from the thunder and rain.”

Initially, I couldn’t stop my dog Oscar going absolutely berserk and barking loudly outside my bedroom. It was midnight. Very cross with him, I got up and I found the koalas crouched at the side of the house. Mother koala had somehow landed inside the slatted gate, which encloses the rear patio defined by a high cement slab fence. Oscar had them bailed up. So I picked him up and locked him up in the laundry. Then mother koala continued her journey to my rear sliding glass door, clearly wanting to come in from the fierce weather.

I had no idea what to do, but sensed her need for help. Then I thought of Animal Rescue and RSPCA and telephoned for help to a recorded message. As I watched her powerful paws on my door, I thought of a solution. While she was at the rear door, I raced around the front and opened the side gate. I suspect she heard the latch go, because then I coaxed her back around the corner to freedom. It was an amazing spectacle to have this wild animal with the wisdom to approach a human being and then to watch her march back into the night, baby firmly latched onto her back during all the excitement. So I didn’t have to phone Koala Rescue after all. And I have a photograph to rival that classic shot of the cyclist sharing his water bottle with the parched koala on the road during one of our hottest days.

My night visitors were the most exciting thing to happen to me up here at Belair for a long time and reflect why I am so happy up here living among the gum trees.

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