Posted on 02/11/2009 11:30:09 AM PST by mojito
A thirsty koala rescued from the Australian wild fires has become a star on YouTube, the video-sharing website, emerging as a lucky survivor of the disaster that has killed more than 180 people.
Firefighter Dave Tree stumbled across the female marsupial, nicknamed Sam, as he was battling blazes in Victoria state and was amazed when the parched animal allowed him to approach and guzzled water from a bottle he offered.
“Things do survive the bush fire ... are you alright buddy?” he asked in footage captured by a fellow volunteer on a mobile phone.
The cuddly appearance of the koala can disguise the animal’s notorious ill-temper, but animal rescuers in Australia have described Sam as “very docile”.
The Melbourne Herald Sun reported that Sam suffered burns to its paws and was in pain, but was on the road to recovery at the Mountain Ash Wildlife Shelter.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Smokey the Koala.
Saw this yesterday. Amazing, given the temperment of this particular species.
That said, the envirowacko’s probably want the fireman and the koala executed for daring to use a disposable water bottle.....
And “Firefighter Dave Tree”.
It wasn’t water. It was gin. The koala is very happy now.
relax, not every story has an agenda
Good point.
Awesome fireman ping!
What is really amazing, is that Koalas don’t usually drink water at all! They just live off of the Eucalyptus leaves. This poor little girl drank 3 bottles! Funny how she knew the people were there to help her. Wow.
IIRC; koalas ONLY eat eucalyptus leaves, and indeed, they don’t drink per se..they get ALL their moisture from the leaves..the act of “drinking” water is not natural to them..
Good on ya, mate!
Cute koala.
You’re right. Koalas usually spend their entire lives up in trees, getting both nourishment and hydration from eucalyptus leaves; not on the ground and drinking. That poor thing was on its last legs and knew it. Especially taking that water from a strange creature of unknown motive.
Indeed. Personally, I believe if there is a heaven then there is a special place there for people like this who help out poor creatures such as this.
Get over it. It’s a disaster killing people and animals.
“Especially taking that water from a strange creature of unknown motive.”
I like the quip the fireman made in the video - “he’ll get rehydrated and rip the sh*t out of me.”
I think you're right, Ken. The fact that "Sam" drank three bottles of water from the firefighter speaks to how dehydrated the poor animal was. What the grumps around here don't seem to get is that stories like this actually help people, particularly children, affected by the same catastrophe. It helps by injecting some humanity and hope (not the false Obama kind) into an otherwise horrific situation.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.