Don't pick up wild baby wombats
March 12, 2025 4:17 AM Subscribe
Don't pick up wild baby wombats. Picking them up can injure them; can cause their mother to abandon them (a death sentence if they are still breastfeeding); and could cause you to get seriously injured by an angry mother wombat (wombat claws can disembowel a person if the wombat gets angry.) US influencer criticised for temporarily taking joey wombat from mother. A US influencer is under fire after posting a video of herself capturing a wild baby wombat off the side of the road.
WIRES wildlife veterinarian Tania Bishop says the fundamental issue with this incident was the potential for severe distress being caused to both the mother and joey.
"That was a completely dependent joey on the mum. It's at her side all the time for both milk and protection," Dr Bishop told the ABC.
"Also, the way she [Ms Jones] picked up the joey by the forearms very easily could have caused damage to the muscles, tendons, nerves, shoulders and upper arms.
"It's very distressing because we didn't get to see whether the joey was OK afterwards or whether there was any sort of permanent damage."
WIRES wildlife veterinarian Tania Bishop says the fundamental issue with this incident was the potential for severe distress being caused to both the mother and joey.
"That was a completely dependent joey on the mum. It's at her side all the time for both milk and protection," Dr Bishop told the ABC.
"Also, the way she [Ms Jones] picked up the joey by the forearms very easily could have caused damage to the muscles, tendons, nerves, shoulders and upper arms.
"It's very distressing because we didn't get to see whether the joey was OK afterwards or whether there was any sort of permanent damage."
To be honest, Americans should just leave everything alone until they prove that they can be trusted with it.
posted by prismatic7 at 4:50 AM on March 12 [43 favorites]
posted by prismatic7 at 4:50 AM on March 12 [43 favorites]
Americans should just leave everything alone until they prove that they can be trusted with it.
When I was in Yosemite 10 years ago and saw a bunch of guys in a circle around a mule deer trying to corner it so they could get a close look (and I don't know what else), I hollered over at them to cut it out.
When they protested that they weren't going to hurt it, their English was Italian-accented.
It ain't just Americans, friend.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:56 AM on March 12 [16 favorites]
When I was in Yosemite 10 years ago and saw a bunch of guys in a circle around a mule deer trying to corner it so they could get a close look (and I don't know what else), I hollered over at them to cut it out.
When they protested that they weren't going to hurt it, their English was Italian-accented.
It ain't just Americans, friend.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:56 AM on March 12 [16 favorites]
ugh. This makes me think of people who "rescue" fawns that are left alone for two minutes and take them home as pets. In this case, the mother was RIGHT THERE, so there was no question of rescuing. It makes my blood boil.
posted by pangolin party at 4:58 AM on March 12 [4 favorites]
posted by pangolin party at 4:58 AM on March 12 [4 favorites]
Not that I am advocating picking up wild baby animals, but at least in the case of birds and rabbits, it is now considered a myth that mothers will abandon them if touched by humans.
posted by fairmettle at 5:00 AM on March 12 [4 favorites]
posted by fairmettle at 5:00 AM on March 12 [4 favorites]
I saw this footage accidentally yesterday and it made me feel sick. Awful.
posted by tiny frying pan at 5:38 AM on March 12
posted by tiny frying pan at 5:38 AM on March 12
wombat claws can disembowel a person if the wombat gets angry
I am 100% on team wombat in that fight. Let me know if these arseholes get footage of that.
posted by biffa at 5:40 AM on March 12 [10 favorites]
I am 100% on team wombat in that fight. Let me know if these arseholes get footage of that.
posted by biffa at 5:40 AM on March 12 [10 favorites]
I hated her the second she was described as an “influencer” (performative entitlement isn’t a job)
Then I read that she was harassing wildlife, repeatedly, and now I hate her more.
posted by caution live frogs at 6:06 AM on March 12 [7 favorites]
Then I read that she was harassing wildlife, repeatedly, and now I hate her more.
posted by caution live frogs at 6:06 AM on March 12 [7 favorites]
There's an Australian guy, Josh Neille, whose Instagram feed is full of videos of him rescuing snakes and wombats and stuff. He has a young daughter, who feeds the wombats from a bottle: I can't tell if he's "trained but goofy" or "kind of a threat to wildlife" but he's often, like, up a pole in someone's yard freeing a stuck bird or something.
https://www.instagram.com/joshneille11/?hl=en
Apparently the ABC did a story and says that he's legit but...it just feels like he is encouraging people like this American woman.
posted by wenestvedt at 6:30 AM on March 12 [1 favorite]
https://www.instagram.com/joshneille11/?hl=en
Apparently the ABC did a story and says that he's legit but...it just feels like he is encouraging people like this American woman.
posted by wenestvedt at 6:30 AM on March 12 [1 favorite]
...their English was Italian-accented.
It ain't just Americans, friend.
Italian-accented English? Heavens to Betsy!
posted by fairmettle at 6:33 AM on March 12
It ain't just Americans, friend.
Italian-accented English? Heavens to Betsy!
posted by fairmettle at 6:33 AM on March 12
Italian-accented English? Heavens to Betsy!
Go back and read that statement in context, please, including the comment I was responding to.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:38 AM on March 12 [11 favorites]
Go back and read that statement in context, please, including the comment I was responding to.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:38 AM on March 12 [11 favorites]
Ugh terrible, people suck.
posted by Glinn at 7:13 AM on March 12 [1 favorite]
posted by Glinn at 7:13 AM on March 12 [1 favorite]
I hope there's a special hell for all the apartment dwelling influencers who are posting baby monkey and otter clips.
posted by brachiopod at 7:16 AM on March 12 [3 favorites]
posted by brachiopod at 7:16 AM on March 12 [3 favorites]
Wait. People are keeping otters in apartments?
Apartment otters.
posted by zenon at 7:21 AM on March 12
Apartment otters.
posted by zenon at 7:21 AM on March 12
Wait. People are keeping otters in apartments?
Yes. Yes they are.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:05 AM on March 12 [1 favorite]
Yes. Yes they are.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:05 AM on March 12 [1 favorite]
I know it's wrong, but I really want to cuddle an otter. Then again, I have seen those claws, maybe I should settle for pictures...
posted by wenestvedt at 8:47 AM on March 12 [2 favorites]
posted by wenestvedt at 8:47 AM on March 12 [2 favorites]
There’s an influencer whose entire schtick is owning squirrel monkeys. Every video she posts, it’s like having a toddler that can jump on your head at any moment.
I actually had a family member who owned squirrel monkeys a long time ago… my aunt’s husband bought one without asking her, and they were suddenly a monkey family. (Why yes, that was a harbinger of even shittier behavior to come, on his part). The monkey was legally bred and purchased, so not the same as “rescuing” a wild animal. Darwin was incredibly sweet but man, owning an animal like that takes over your life.
posted by bluloo at 9:47 AM on March 12
I actually had a family member who owned squirrel monkeys a long time ago… my aunt’s husband bought one without asking her, and they were suddenly a monkey family. (Why yes, that was a harbinger of even shittier behavior to come, on his part). The monkey was legally bred and purchased, so not the same as “rescuing” a wild animal. Darwin was incredibly sweet but man, owning an animal like that takes over your life.
posted by bluloo at 9:47 AM on March 12
Otters on leashes, that made me so sad.
posted by drossdragon at 11:39 AM on March 12
posted by drossdragon at 11:39 AM on March 12
My kid and I sometimes scroll cat reels on instagram, and surprisingly quickly the algorithm starts to feed you exotic animal reels, and suddenly you're watching people put clothes on their tiger cubs or whatever. It's so gross, I click out as soon as I realize.
I've also started noticing that some of the cat reels are AI slop (we have a sphynx cat, so we look at them online sometimes, and there is a genre of horribly bloated sphynx reel that is super distressing).
Anyway, the world is not there just for people to handle. My backyard is full of salamanders and I have stopped picking them up because I'm worried it will kill them, I want them to be there in years to come and if all I can do is turn over a rock and look at them a couple of times a year that's okay, they don't exist for my benefit.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 12:00 PM on March 12 [5 favorites]
I've also started noticing that some of the cat reels are AI slop (we have a sphynx cat, so we look at them online sometimes, and there is a genre of horribly bloated sphynx reel that is super distressing).
Anyway, the world is not there just for people to handle. My backyard is full of salamanders and I have stopped picking them up because I'm worried it will kill them, I want them to be there in years to come and if all I can do is turn over a rock and look at them a couple of times a year that's okay, they don't exist for my benefit.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 12:00 PM on March 12 [5 favorites]
She is welcome to come to Montana. In a few months the cute little baby grizzly bears will be out.
posted by ITravelMontana at 1:21 PM on March 12 [8 favorites]
posted by ITravelMontana at 1:21 PM on March 12 [8 favorites]
To be honest, Americans should just leave everything alone until they prove that they can be trusted with it.
I have seen tourists and locals in every part of the world doing stupid things. I've seen people, foreign and domestic, climbing on petroglyphs, walking up to wild bison, strolling up next to boiling geysers and hot springs, picnicking on protected dunes, feeding wild coyotes and other wildlife right in front of do-not-feed-the-animals signs, and on and on.
At Australia Zoo, they have a wild otter show, where they have trained them to look cute and do things on cue, and they have wombats that you can pet if they let you. Kangaroos you can feed by hand are kind of ubiquitous at many zoos and wildlife sanctuaries. Steve Irwin, whose family founded Australia Zoo and runs it to this day, was famous for going out and grabbing wildlife on camera, and his children continue that legacy. He was an influencer before that label existed. But he was a conservationist and just like violence on TV isn't responsible for people murdering each other, Steve and his zoo should not be blamed for lack of common sense or empathy on the part of one moron. Nor should all of America.
This woman is an idiot and yes please revoke her ability to ever visit Australia again. Prosecute her if you can, but let's not pretend human stupidity is a uniquely American problem. Not far from Australia Zoo last November, I saw "Australia for Trump" painted broadly across a rock outcropping, easily readable while driving down the M1, lest someone try to make a counter-argument in that regard.
posted by tempestuoso at 6:35 AM on March 13 [1 favorite]
I have seen tourists and locals in every part of the world doing stupid things. I've seen people, foreign and domestic, climbing on petroglyphs, walking up to wild bison, strolling up next to boiling geysers and hot springs, picnicking on protected dunes, feeding wild coyotes and other wildlife right in front of do-not-feed-the-animals signs, and on and on.
At Australia Zoo, they have a wild otter show, where they have trained them to look cute and do things on cue, and they have wombats that you can pet if they let you. Kangaroos you can feed by hand are kind of ubiquitous at many zoos and wildlife sanctuaries. Steve Irwin, whose family founded Australia Zoo and runs it to this day, was famous for going out and grabbing wildlife on camera, and his children continue that legacy. He was an influencer before that label existed. But he was a conservationist and just like violence on TV isn't responsible for people murdering each other, Steve and his zoo should not be blamed for lack of common sense or empathy on the part of one moron. Nor should all of America.
This woman is an idiot and yes please revoke her ability to ever visit Australia again. Prosecute her if you can, but let's not pretend human stupidity is a uniquely American problem. Not far from Australia Zoo last November, I saw "Australia for Trump" painted broadly across a rock outcropping, easily readable while driving down the M1, lest someone try to make a counter-argument in that regard.
posted by tempestuoso at 6:35 AM on March 13 [1 favorite]
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