What’s that Skip? You’re stuck down a hole on the South Coast

Two kangaroos who ended up down a collapsed mineshaft have been saved thanks to emergency crews hopping in to help.

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The two juvenile eastern grey kangaroos trapped down a two-metre deep hole were found by bushwalkers near Mogo on August 9.

They called for help and WIRES arrived, but Shelley Clarke, chair of the Mid South Coast branch, quickly decided the drop was too deep to scale without assistance.

“We didn’t know how solid the floor was, so we were pretty cautious,” she said.

“We just started trying to to put some objects like trees and rocks and stuff to see if they might be able to move out on their own, but it was just too deep, so we got the SES out there with their ladders and some ropes.”

Led by deputy local commander, Linda Kennington, five SES volunteers soon rolled up on their rescue truck and began hauling their Terra Tamer through 200 metres of thick vegetation.

“When we got there, they were just kind of looking up at us, wondering what was going on,” she said.

While the team initially attempted to bring the marsupials up using ropes, given their young age, dropping a ladder and going down into the hole seemed more feasible.

“I’ve had a bit of experience doing that type of thing, because I’m a retired ambulance officer, so I have a few valuable skills up my sleeve,” said Ms Clarke.

“I was able to net them, and we just were able to lift them out.”

The first roo was fairly amenable to the rescue, while his brother proved a little more feisty.

“The second one put up a little bit of a fight,” said Ms Kennington.

“It did get a little bit stressed out about what was going on, but hopefully they’ve forgiven us now because we’ve got them out.”

After lightly sedating the joeys, they were captured with a net and popped into a bag, before being lifted out of the crevice.

“They’re still quite little, so you can still handle them,” said Ms Clarke.

“There’s a correct way to grab them, so I just secured them and lifted them up out of the hole.”

Once the pair were back at ground level, WIRES volunteers waited with them until they were ready to bounce back into the bush.

“It was quite thick bush, which is a bit unusual, so whether they just had a bit of an adventure and got a bit lost, I’m not sure,” said Ms Clarke.

“But it was right near a major power line easement so that they would have found their way back out there with their mob.”

Although it was probably a more unusual call-out for the SES, it was just another day at work for WIRES.

“We’ve been able to get a kangaroo out from underneath the cattle grid and down drains and all sorts of places they end up,” said Ms Clarke.

“We’ve got a few members that are current or ex-emergency services, so we’re a pretty resourceful bunch.”

Journalist for the Bay Post and Narooma News

Journalist for the Bay Post and Narooma News