Smokin’ Joe beats fire

By Kath Gannaway
BUCKETS of water and a tiny remnant of green grass were a lifeline for the small bunch of animals that wandered from the bush to Leone and Roy Smith’s house after Black Saturday.
One of those, a seven-month-old wombat whose mother died in the fire and who was in a horrible state, has returned home.
Leone and Roy nicknamed the little fellow “Smokin’ Joe” and they were overjoyed to have him released back into the burrow he had shared with his mother after almost a year of treatment and rehabilitation with Pakenham wildlife carer Jenny Mattingly.
The Smiths’ property is deep in the bush at Steels Creek, backing on to the national park.
They left just 10 minutes before the fire came through and were astounded to find their home had survived the blaze.
Leone, who has been a volunteer guide at Healesville Sanctuary for 20 years, said it was four days before a small procession of animals – including Smokin’ Joe, an echidna, a monitor lizard and a kangaroo and her joey – started to arrive on their door step.
Two animals in particular touched them enormously – the little wombat, a pitiful sight with his burnt back and body covered in ticks, and a mother kangaroo.
“We had a mother kangaroo bring her joey up to where we had a bucket of water near the house,” Leone recalled.
“She stayed there until the joey drank, and then she died. It was an incredible thing to see.”
After initial treatment at the sanctuary, and a long stay at the shelter, Smokin’ Joe has now been given a new lease on life, back in Steels Creek.
“We knew where his burrow was and wanted to release him back where he had come from,” Leone said.
They released him near the burrow and to everyone’s delight, he didn’t hesitate.
“He went straight in and we heard him digging,” said Leone, who added that she and Roy had seen signs in recent weeks that assured them he had settled in well.
Leone said the land was coming back and so were more of the native animals.
“It was absolutely fantastic to see Smokin’ Joe come back home to his own territory,” she said. “He is completely independent and able to live in the wild.
“Without the sanctuary and Jenny I don’t think he would have survived.”