By PAUL MILLAR
AN EARLY hot spell has taken its toll on local wildlife, with Jirrahlinga Wildlife Sanctuary busy treating distressed animals and birds.
Senior keeper Judy O’Brien said the recent school holidays were unusually busy at the shelter, with more people out and about and demand for help with animals up about 30 per cent on previous years because of the heat.
Baby magpies and ring-tailed possums topped the list, she said, with staff at the Barwon Heads facility keeping a sharp eye on all guests as the weather turned cooler.
A sudden change in temperature could be fatal for young ring-tailed possums, Ms O’Brien explained.
“For the next few days we’ll have to keep an eye on them.”
Many of the possums had become exhausted in the heat and fallen out of the trees.
Young magpies, many just learning to fly, had also been brought into the centre for attention, Ms O’Brien said.
The influx of holidaymakers during the school break meant more people were around in the heat wave to come across distressed wildlife.
Some of the birds were trying to fly but others had wandered close to the road and had been brought in for their own safety, Ms O’Brien said.
Jirrahlinga, on the northern edge of Barwon Heads, has been operating the sanctuary to care and rehabilitate wildlife since 1977.
