Rocky start to relationship but Lake Mac crew makes Valentine’s day

A Lake Macquarie City Council crew has leapt into action after a wallaby found itself stuck between a rock and a hard place at Valentine.

Staff from the Natural Areas Project Team found the swamp wallaby wedged between rocks on Wednesday 11 February while working to remove lantana in remote bushland off Ruston Road.

“We were on our way to check out an area we hadn’t been to before, along a dry creek line,” Site Supervisor Rezak Boudjema said.

“One of the guys saw something moving out corner of his eye and that’s when he saw this wallaby that was obviously distressed.”

“It had clearly been there for quite a long time. It was struggling to get free and so we tried to give it a gentle nudge but there was no reaction.”

“There was this thought: ‘Oh no, it’s got a broken leg or a broken back or something’.”

The crew called Hunter Wildlife Rescue, which scrambled a volunteer to assist.

“She’s arrived a short time later, covered the wallaby’s head to minimise stress and then worked with our team to gently get it free of the rocks,” Mr Boudjema said.

The animal, an adult male, was then placed in a large plastic carrier and hauled out.

“It was a two-person carry and it took about 20 minutes to get it out because there’s no defined tracks in there – it’s pretty rough bush,” Mr Boudjema said.

“I’m really proud of the effort, which showed great teamwork and cooperation.”

The wallaby was taken to the Animal Referral and Emergency Centre at Broadmeadow, where x-rays cleared it of broken bones.

It was then handed over to a specialist marsupial carer back in Lake Macquarie.

“They’ve called him Valentine, which seemed pretty fitting given where we found him, and the fact it was only a few days out from 14 February,” Mr Boudjema said.

Hunter Wildlife Rescue Vice President Kerry Walker said Valentine was eating and drinking well.

“He’s in excellent care and recovering slowly, with the ultimate goal of being released back in the wild,” she said.

Council’s Manager City Works Matthew Brogan said it was all in a day’s work for the Natural Areas Project Team, which travels across some of the wildest parts of the city for environmental improvement projects.

“One week they might be paddling kayaks along Slatey Creek at Barnsley, looking for the invasive Senegal tea plant, the next they’ll be trekking saltmarsh at Wyee Point clearing asparagus fern,” he said.

“Their work spans rainforests, creek lines, biobanks and coastal dunes, and it plays a crucial role in restoring and protecting our local biodiversity.”