This woman felt surprised when she noticed a small wombat in her pile of laundry
Recently, the woman noticed gentle rustling beneath a pile of laundry in her shed. She carefully peeled back some of the fabric and found two big brown eyes staring up at her and knew she had to help. To the woman’s surprise, a stranded wombat had found refuge in the warm blankets. She contacted Yolandi Vermaak, president and founder of Wombat Rescue. However, by the time Vermaak arrived, the wombat had already left.Read More.
Luckily, the wombat soon returned. This time, Vermaak caught the little girl back in her favorite blanket. Vermaak initially worried the rescue would run, but the wombat seemed happy where she was.
“She wasn’t going to bolt. Not at all,” Vermaak wrote in a Facebook post. “She was snug as a bug in that blue blanket and not giving it up.”
Vermaak determined a big rainstorm caused the wombat’s burrow to flood, leading her to seek shelter in the comfy, dry laundry. Vermaak asked the woman if she might let the wombat stay for a few days while her burrow dried, and the woman was happy to help.
“This woman went above and beyond,” Vermaak told The Dodo. “She added an old mattress [and] also took a blanket and hung it over pegs over the mattress to form a little cave to give the wombat a little security. The wombat loved this and slept under it for a few days.”
Vermaak treated the wombat for mange, and the wombat appeared happy to finally get the care she needed.
“She didn’t growl or run,” Vermaak said. “She just lay there and let me treat her.”
Vermaak believes when a wombat is at your doorstep, it’s because they’re in trouble. Usually due to a compromised burrow or illness because they don’t otherwise interact with humans.
“[When] they go into sheds or under porches,” Vermaak said, “they are asking for help.”
With a dry burrow to return to, and a coat that’s free from dangerous mange, this lucky wombat is surely feeling grateful for all the people who helped her.
And if she ever finds her burrow flooded again, she knows there’s a safe, warm blanket nearby.
