In the presence of greatness.

It's been 3 days since fellow Wildlife Victoria volunteers and I were called to rescue this kangaroo in Diamond Creek in Melbourne's northwest, roughly 25 kms from the CBD. Three days, and I've thought of little else.

Here's the tale.

I'd dropped my mom off at Melbourne Airport -- she's in Alice Springs on a 3-day tour of Australia's 'Red Centre' -- and was having coffee at a cafe in Fairfield when Narelle from Wildlife Victoria called. She was heading to Bundoora to check on what I thought she said was a 'downed kangaroo' and wondered if I could help. I finished my coffee and rendezvoused with her and 3 volunteers an hour later. We drove the fenced perimeter of LaTrobe University in search of a kangaroo that had escaped the animal sanctuary within. It was soon spotted, and we herded it through a perimeter gate. While we filled gaps beneath the fence Narelle received a call about a roo in Diamond Creek. We were soon back on the road.
View from the property we were called to in Diamond Creek.
Look closely: Those grey specks on the hillside comprise a mob of roos sunning themselves.
Unfortunately, this roo had tangled itself in the remains of carelessly strewn wire fencing that stretched around this property with the same destructive potential of glass shards on a beach promenade. He was standing when we arrived. Six-feet-tall, rippling with muscle, unable to flee but unafraid. Proud. Us newbies hung back while Narelle, probably Wildlife Victoria's most experienced, skilled and compassionate member, and another colleague assessed the situation. I was afforded a closer look at this tall, hulking creature through the viewfinder of a camcorder. It's that image I carry in my mind.

Narelle determined the roo would be impossible to free if conscious, so a few of us drove to a Wildlife Victoria-friendly vet in Coburg to purchase the dose required to knock out a 6-foot roo. Narelle and her experienced colleague used a long pole to inject him.

We waited for the drug to take effect before approaching him. I crouched about 10 metres away, watching him closely. The double dose Narelle had given him was working fast. He shook his head slowly from side to side, like a stoned hippie pondering the everyday cruelty of this world. Or, hopefully, reliving the joys of bounding through the bush without a care in the f*cking world.
A fellow newbie volunteer approached him in a non-threatening manner -- slowly and low to the ground. As soon as she'd covered his head with a blanket, decreasing his stress, the rest of us approached. I was 'assigned' the task of keeping his hips from moving, but he was mostly incapacitated by the injections. He was warm, heavy, furry. We lifted his massive upper-body and slipped it into a 'roo bag', in case he woke up and began flailing.
Narelle inspected his wounds. Sadly -- tragically -- the wire had wrapped itself around his right leg up to the hip, cutting into flesh, exposing bone. Narelle used a wire cutter while I pulled back the skin. Along with the bulk of his right leg, the lower portion of his left leg had gotten entangled, resulting in terrible wounds and major soft tissue damage, a result of at least (but mostly likely more than) 24-hours of trying to escape this awful fate.

I'm actually getting upset writing this so I'm going to keep the rest short. After we removed the wire, Narelle washed his wounds and put on a brave face about his potential recovery. We wrapped his wounds in clean towels and lifted him completely into the roo bag. We carried him to Narelle's ute, where he slept peacefully. He was brought to a vet, but his wounds were too grave. He was euthanised.

I feel lucky to help such dedicated volunteers but am shattered by the senselessness of this animal's death. Please ... if you're a landowner, clear your property of unnecessary wires. So a story like this doesn't need to be written.