Time to Roam Magazine Issue 3 - June/July 2013 | Page 44

(Top Right) The rescued joey, in safe custody after its desert ordeal; (Opposite Top) June rescues another injured pelican; (Opposite Middle) Road trains pull
in at Whitulania Creek, June grateful they weren’t heading her way earlier; (Opposite Bottom) The trusty Mazda rescue vehicle.

June’s Top 5 rules
to protect pelicans.
1. Stop trashing our beautiful country
with bottles, cans, plastic and other
junk.
2. If a bird is hooked or caught by a lure,
minimise injury by cutting the line and
immediately call a wildlife hotline.
3. Never use braided fishing line.
4. Oppose foreshore high rise
developments adjacent to waterways.
5. Keep your distance – over
familiarisation with humans results in
begging for food, occasional violence
from humans and birth defects from
inappropriate food.
Time to Roam is grateful to Jane Flood
for her assistance with this story. Jane
and June are fellow members of FAWNA
(For Australian Wildlife Needing Aid) in the
Hastings area of NSW. Jane recently shot
and edited a short video called “June the
Pelican Lady” which can be viewed on the
ABC Open website www.open.abc.net.au

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camped at the Nuccundra Pub on our way
through to Cooper Creek at Windorah.
It was unusually cold with heavy cloud. We
broke camp early in morning and headed
out into the Stony Desert, which was a pretty
stupid thing to do considering the weather.
We were about 30 kilometres out
when I spotted a circle of cattle on the
bare stony ground and I knew straight
away that some poor creature would
be in the middle of that circle.
Ron is used to sudden instructions; stop,
back up, turnaround, pull over. To my horror
it was a Big Red male joey. He was bleeding
substantially and the cattle would certainly
have killed him.
I leapt from the vehicle barefooted onto
the cold sharp stones, (again very stupid)
and separated the cattle. The little guy
saw his chance and took off with me in hot
pursuit. No sign of a mother dead or alive
anywhere.
Eventually I caught him. He was cold,
bleeding and coughing with fear [