Wombat lady hailed a hero around Yarramalong way

Around Yarramalong way, she’s known as the wombat lady – even the wombat magician to some.

For the past 12 years, Leanne Hall of Brush Creek in Yarramalong Valley has been saving baby wombats whose mothers have been killed or injured after being struck by cars.

This year, for any number of reasons, she’s had to save more than ever and currently has four in care.

“There do seem to be a lot more wombats about,” Hall said.

“They are healthier because there is less mange, and they are coming to the sides of the roads for fresh green grass.”

She said speeding cars strike the wombats and while the drivers leave the animals in the middle of the road to die, often there is a joey to save.

And if there is, Hall is your woman.

She began looking after local wildlife after finding a wallaby with two broken legs.

“I didn’t know what to do,” she said.

“I knew there was a retired vet in the area, but he wasn’t home.

“I contacted WIRES who told me to take it to the vet to get it euthanised.”

After that experience, Hall trained to become a licensed carer with WIRES and is one of three people on the Central Coast licensed to care for wombats.

Carers will raise their joeys to the age of about 18 months to two years before releasing them back into the wild.

And while baby wombats are cute to look at and are known to follow humans around like dogs, they are definitely not good pets.

Hall said her charges were notoriously destructive, weighed a lot and cost more to care for than any other wildlife.

“We need to build special enclosures so they can’t burrow out,” she said.

“Pens need to be dug down to about 1.2 metres and they cost a lot to build because you must use very heavy-duty materials.

“The containers we use to transport them are made of steel.

“We are always looking for funding to help with the cost of caring for wombats because they are just so expensive.”

But at the end of the care, and after the wombats are released back into the wild, her endeavours certainly pay off.

“We literally open the gates, and they wander out,” she said.

“Sometimes they come back for food and after a while they don’t come back at all.

“Hopefully then we see them on our cameras with their own babies.”

Over the 12 years, Hall has raised 12 baby wombats.

“We definitely have more in care this year than ever before, we have around seven in care at the moment,” she said.

She urged speeding drivers to slow down and be mindful of wildlife when driving at night.

“If you hit one, call for help,” she said.

Hall often gets people knocking on her door looking for help.

“I get a lot of calls from members of the community through the Yarramalong and Dooralong Facebook community pages where I’m called the wombat lady,” she said.

“It is time consuming raising wombats, but I do love them.”