Farewell, Wally!

FOUR years after his first visit to their property, Wally the wallaby was farewelled by John Robertson and Bron Jones last week.

Locals have followed Wally’s adventures on Mr Robertson’s Facebook page.

“Wally touched many people,” said Mr Robertson, who enjoys taking photos of wildlife in the area.

“We’ve had almost 900 people view the pages since he passed away.

“It’s a sad time but heartwarming to know how much Wally meant to everyone.”

Wally visited Mr Robertson almost every day.

“Our property backs onto the National Park,” he said, “so we are blessed to see so much wildlife.

“We registered with Land for Wildlife soon after we moved here 24 years ago.

“From the beginning I realised Wally was friendly and I spent time getting to know him.

“Eventually he would be waiting for me to give him breakfast each morning when I opened the curtains at 7am.

“I fed him with a special wildlife mix from the grain store.”

Although there will only ever be one Wally, birds and other wildlife often visit.

“There’s another wallaby we’ve named Wendy and a couple of crows who used to eat from the same bowl as Wally.

“And I really love the cockatoos.”

Mr Robertson said Wally seemed to become ill almost overnight.

“He deteriorated very quickly so I took him food and water each day.

“I made him a bed on the verandah and staff from the wildlife shelter monitored him.

“Eventually we knew it was time to go and took him to Red Box Wildlife Shelter where he reached out and held my hand as they put him to sleep.

“We brought him home and buried him in his favourite place about 50 metres from our house.

“And Bron, a poet, wrote a beautiful poem about him.

“Wally will never be forgotten by us and so many other people.”