 There are plenty of eastern grey kangaroos near Winton Wetlands, and sadly, many are roadkill. We stopped to move one poor freshly killed mum off the road, and then noticed a paw moving in the pouch. Here's what happened, and what we learnt about what to do next time. We've never hit a roo, thank goodness, but it can easily happen. Recently, we were heading to Winton Wetlands, a favourite spot, and we saw many dead roos along the road near the Mokoan Cafe. One looked very freshly killed, so we decided it would be better for her, for any feasting wedge-tailed eagles, and for other motorists if we pulled it from the road. Armed with our disposable gloves (good to keep these handy - probably all sorts of ticks etc on the roos), we leapt out of our stationary vehicle, and gently pulled the roo off to the side. Just as we were about to leave, we saw movement coming from the pouch - a joey's paw. We double checked that the mother was dead before attempting the rescue of joey. Never having done this before, we were tentative but determined to do what we could rather than let the joey die of starvation or worse. We fetched a small bucket and some rag from the car, then put our hands into the pouch to see what was what. We beheld a gorgeous pinky. This is (we now know) a very young joey without any fur. This one had not yet opened its eyes, as far as we could tell. Even so, it was quite long (maybe 30cms) and very lively, moving its paws in an agitated fashion. This joey was easy to remove from the pouch but we since learnt that pinkies will often be latched onto a teat and should not be forcibly removed as you can damage the joey's mouth. We swaddled it not too tightly and placed it on the bucket without a lid, and kept it in the passenger footwell, while we rang Wildlife Victoria (Phone: 03 8400 7300).  As per our previous experience with an injured galah, Wildlife Victoria were excellent. They thanked us for rescuing the joey, and asked if we would be willing to take it to a vet who would treat it at no charge to us. Yes, of course! Being Saturday, the best one was a twenty minute drive away in Wangaratta - would we be able to do that? Yep, no problem. Our one (not very good) photo of our little friend was snapped hastily on the phone before we headed into the vet surgery. We handed our protege over, and hoped for the best. It was so vulnerable, but seemed like a fighter. We could only hope. We have since done some research on what to do with a rescued joey (or wombat, and so on), so we can be better prepared next time. We found this Wildlife Victoria fact sheet (Kangaroos) particularly handy. We didn't know that "after rescuers check the pouch of a dead kangaroo, they will spray paint the body with a large cross to notify other rescuers that the pouch has been checked." So we will have an aerosol paint can handy for next time. This Pouch Checking Guide is even more detailed. We have printed both the documents and keep them in the car. Having done our good deed for the day, we each pondered what a suitable reward could be. Rosalie elected to have coffee and cake at the Mokoan Cafe - it was really good, and disappeared so fast it was hard to get a pic (see below). Beverley thought her reward should be to see and photograph a wedge-tailed eagle somewhere in the area - her wish was soon granted, although somewhat at a distance. But the real reward came later when we rang the vet to find out whether the joey had survived...Yes! it had been sent to a carer in Benalla (thanks to the carer, whoever you are!). We hope the joey thrives and is returned to the wild. We're glad we stopped to move the poor mum, but we now know we need to be a bit better prepared to check for and manage a joey, or the young of any other marsupial. 
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