About Us What's New Latest Additions Recent Awards and Grants Our Aim Mission Statement Minton Farm Background Contact Us Feedback

Hi all,
The Centre has been at peak production over the summer break, due mostly to the lack of water produced by the climate and the water restrictions reducing the number of people providing water for use by wildlife in their gardens. Many rescues have been rehabilitated and re-released into their original habitat successfully. One such case was a Black Falcon brought in late last year as a chick from 80kms north of Marla, which had been taken from its nest by aboriginal children. A teacher there had rescued it and brought it to Adelaide to get some help for it. The chick was hand raised in our hospital facility then introduced to a 4m long, shade cloth lined flight to prevent feather damage. Once she was ripping up her own food and flying to a small degree, she was then introduced into the 30’ long, 12’ high shade cloth lined flight cage, funded by the City of Onkaparinga. Over the school holidays this magnificent Falcon grew well, began to fly the length and height of the flight and recognized road kill etc as food sources. It was decided that she was ready for life in the wild, having an excellent chance of survival. The young teacher was to return to Marla to resume his position, so he collected the Falcon. She was placed into a reasonable size cage, with a low perch and covered with a sheet to reduce stimulation. Her ‘bag was packed’ with chicks, mice and pigeon for a midnight snack during her 14 hour journey and away she went.
Two tortoises came in with foot and shell damage. One from Happy Valley, which was operated on by Adelaide Zoo Vets, and rehabilitated here, then released back into the Happy Valley Reservoir. The other was rescued at Lady Bay by a Greencore team. She had burnt feet from the hot bitumen while trying to find water- none of which was available. She has had a course of antibiotics and was returned to a dam at Yankallila with the Greencore team.
A Bassian Thrush was brought in from Mylor that has its wing broken and feathers plucked from both wings by a cat. Her wing was strapped for 2 weeks to allow healing to take place. She was housed in a heated cage at first, and once she began to feed well, and had a course of antibiotics, she was placed into a larger outside holding cage, made possible by the donation of modular cages accessed by Dr Rachel Westcott, Vet to the Pet. We are absolutely indebted to her for her assistance to improve our rescue Centre and the service we provide to the Community. This beautiful little bird began to fly shortly after the strapping was removed, so it was placed into a flight cage to strengthen the flight muscles which degenerate after only 3 days in confinement. I returned it to an area of pristine habitat with wonderful under storey vegetation at Mylor. She flew off so well, I was thrilled to think we had given her a second chance to survive. I was unable to return her to her original territory as the rescuers’ neighbor had many cats, all breeding, and all the kittens were also breeding, so the local wildlife had slim chances of survival.
	The weather has played merry hell with the wildlife. Dozens of injured and orphaned possums have come in stressed from the summer heat. Many mother possums have thrown their pouch young in an effort to save themselves. Most of those youngsters ended up in the mouth of a dog or cat, and the majority died. Some adults also braved the daylight to escape from their overheated dens or roof spaces to become victims of dog attack.
The best assistance you can give to any wildlife in these conditions is to put a sprinkler on the animal, be it a koala, possum or roo, and provide buckets of water to drink. A wet Hessian bag or shade cloth draped over the edge of a gutter will assist in cooling the air temperatures of possums hanging out of eaves. 9 times out of 10, these measures will rehydrate them and give them a kick start to recover & move on overnight. Ideally keep your dogs & cats locked up until they have.
Over the long weekend break many people found distressed wildlife. One person took a drive to Victor Harbour and noticed a white chinned honeyeater lying lifelessly on the road. She collected it and held it in a towel as they drove along, noticing a blinking eye occasionally, being the only indication of life. After half an hour in the warmth, dark & quiet, the bird suddenly leapt into the air and flew through the car!She placed it into our rescue cage in the afternoon for us to check it out. The bird rallied quickly with a nectar diet giving it immediate strength. Honey eaters require a high energy diet so half a cup of raw sugar and farex, 1 raw egg and enough water to make it up to half a litre, will bring them back from the brink! Any injured bird can be orally given 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1 teaspoon of sugar, added to one cup of water as an emergency electrolyte replacement.
A person had driven to Clayton for a drive and found a magnificent young raptor, prostrate on a side road. He thought it was dead at first, but noticed a small movement. He brought the bird here & left it in the cage outside. When I checked the cage in the moonlight, it looked like there was chook sitting on the perch. Luckily I took a closer look before grabbing it bare handed! It was a young Whistling Kite, (we decided after much consultation), which had trichomoniasis, a nasty disease caused by a parasite. Dr Rachel Westcott prescribed medications to kill the parasite and antibiotics to prevent secondary infections. It was being hand fed as the throat would be very sore and would discourage him from self- feeding. The absolute best part of our whole rehabilitation program, is the exhilaration experienced in re releasing wildlife to have a second chance. The person that found him was keen to release him. It is lovely to be able to share the responsibility and the joys of the work. A Greencore team built a raptor flight from nylon bird netting and shadecloth to prevent feather & cere damage caused by impact with wire netting, rendering the bird unreleaseable. These young men will be thrilled to see this wonderful bird benefiting from their labours! The Whistling Kite was successfully rehabilitated and returned to its territory near Clayton by its rescuer. He was kind enough to photograph the release and forward the photos by email. The wonders of modern technology open up possibilities that were inconceivable only a few years ago.
The volunteer kitchen will be updated with a new cupboard from Traditional Woodworks. This will allow the cups to be washed and stored hygienically in the future. We are indebted to Ferdinand for his assistance. The volunteers have been marvellous, assisting with the Farm duties, and also fundraising at Fairs to support the rehabilitation work, as well as attending seminars to improve our knowledge. There is a lovely camaraderie among them which makes it a joy to work with them. We have started several new people as a back up to the core team when someone is ill or away for a short time. All in all, it is working very well. If anyone would like to assist, (male or female) the program runs on a Tuesday or a Thursday from 10am to 2pm, which must be pre-booked to comply with number restrictions.
	We recently rescued an owl found by a man driving from Clare to Adelaide that had apparently been hit by a car near Mallala. The bird had muscle damage to one of its wings, so I strapped it to support it whilst the muscles repaired. It was given pain killers and its throat was inspected for trichomoniasis.
This is a common condition seen in meat eaters, particularly magpies and raptors, which fill the throat with cheesy lumps that obstruct it until the bird dies. It was treated for this condition. A few days later I noticed its throat was infested with throat worm. This is another ‘nasty’ which causes the bird to become debilitated and starve to death. Vet to the Pet, Rachel Westcott, kindly anaesthetised the bird, to facilitate ease of removal of the worms as each one must be painstakingly pulled out with tweezers, and owl talons are very painful! After the wing had been strapped for two weeks, I removed the strapping and placed the owl into a shadecloth lined flight to strengthen its flight muscles prior to release, giving it the best possible chance of survival. It immediately flew the length of the flight! The finder returned it to its home territory to have a second chance.
	An echidna was hit on Old Belair Road, witnessed by a woman who risked her life dodging cars that were driving over the top of it, ignoring the hazard lights of several parked cars in attendance. Please consider our wildlife & the safety of people trying to help them when you are driving.
This poor woman was unable to come here at the time, so she took the echidna to an after hours Vet centre, where they didn’t want it, or know how to help it. She begged them to house it overnight as the nose was bleeding profusely. She returned in the morning and took it to a local Vet centre where they too didn’t want it, nor know how to help it, but agreed to keep it overnight - it was still bleeding from the nose. The next morning the woman returned and was told to release it back where she found it. After driving to the location and opening the box to release it, the nose was still bleeding so the woman, in quite a distressed state, brought it to Minton Farm for assistance. I housed the echidna on a heat pad, with water available and made a meat mixture according to the diet used at the Adelaide Zoo. The tiny bones that run alongside the pointy nose are as thin as toothpicks that break very easily upon impact. The problem with releasing an echidna with broken jaw bones is that they never mend, and they are doomed to a long, slow death from starvation – not to live happy ever after. I organised to have the echidna’s nose X-rayed by Rachel to make sure things were OK. After 3 attempts to hold a very prickly, slippery little sucker, we managed to get a beautifully clear X-ray of two straight, intact bones! Once the bleeding had stopped and the echidna was placed into a half tank kindly donated by Jenny Reid, it proved it could dig/walk/eat/drink without impediment. Early one morning I drove it to the gully below Old Belair Road and walked into the scrub there. Usually when you return an echidna to its home territory, it digs straight down into the Earth with a firm, unbreakable hold on its home. This little fellow, sat for a moment, then lifted its head and looked straight into my eyes (very unusual for a wild echidna), then looked slowly all around him surveying the territory. I am certain he knew where he was, as he calmly and confidently meandered downhill. I was concerned that he might fall by slipping on the loose stones washed out from the rain. Obviously at home, he chose to zig- zag down the slope, keeping to the understorey, where the grass provided good traction. Just a wonderful experience!
We have had a nursing home encourage their residents to knit pouches for the injured animals, approx 20cm square. A new patient had arrived with dementia, who was disinterested in most activities. She started knitting a small square. A nurse inquired if she was knitting squares for a blanket. She sparked up and retorted "NO! I'm knitting a pouch for orphan possums!" The nurses tell me she has become so motivated by it all. This is a wonderful example of the win / win situation when assisting our wildlife- everybody benefits!
This website has been accessed all over the world and has enabled people to contact us for assistance with wildlife. The latest was a person in Canada who rescued two baby swallows from a log about to go through a chipper! We were able to assist her with the correct diet and how to successfully rehabilitate the birds for rerelease- awesome stuff!
	In parting we would like to again say a big thank you to Adam Internet for their hosting and support for community service projects such as ours.
Keep warm! Bev. Langley & furred and feathered friends!

1 day old emu chicks	Muscovy ducklings	Glenn with the goats and fallow deer	New friends- a welsh & a miniature pony
	This is Manwell, a western grey kangaroo. He was rescued in May 2008 weighing 530 grams from a kangaroo killed by a car at Cherry Gardens. Over the past 10 weeks has progressed very well. At last weigh in he was 1090 grams!

• Govt Water Grant for installing 6 rainwater tanks throughout the property to collect & use rainwater to maintain the animal enclosures and to water revegetation projects.
• City of Onkaparinga Community development grant - Funding for a digital camera for the educational program activities.
• Office of the Ageing for updating the volunteer kitchen area
• Seaworld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund for purchasing food and medical supplies, plus drainages works and hay.

Mission Statement

Minton Farm

Minton Farm is non-profit, voluntary rescue center for around 300 orphaned and injured animals and birds. It is owned and managed by Mrs. Bev Langley.

Bev Langley

Thousands of injured and orphaned creatures are referred to her by RSPCA, Warrawong, Bird Care and Conservation Society, Native Animal Network, and many Vets. The aim of the Center is to rehabilitate the rescue and return them to their homes as quickly as possible, if they are 100% fit; otherwise they are taken into permanent care. Over 6,000 animals and birds have been rescued to date, with more than 200 volunteers trained to assist in the work.

Animals rescued include kangaroos, possums, echidnas, koalas, bats, and lizards. Birds rescued include kookaburras, magpies, owls, hawks, eagles, and parrots. Farm animals rescued include sheep, pigs, ponies, and poultry. Educational tours and talks are provided to increase community awareness of the effects of habitat destruction upon Australia's wildlife, and how to help them to survive.

With no funding, the Refuge has been built entirely with donated equipment and volunteer help. Food donations and community goodwill are directly responsible for its operation. Over 200 volunteers have been trained at the centre, ranging from 8 years to 73 years, helping out on a weekly roster to feed and maintain the creatures, and to build enclosures and cat-proof fencing.

Donations are gratefully accepted to assist with feed and veterinary costs. Animals can be sponsored at $30 a year to allow funds allocated for their food to be used for facility improvement.

Bev Langley received the City of Onkaparinga Civic Achievement Award for Community Service in 1999, and the Citizen 2000 Australia Day Award for her work.

In 2003, Bev received the IFAW National Animal Rescue award.  In the same year, the Southern Vales - Noarlunga Zonta Club awarded Bev with a Woman of Achievement Award. 

Back to top

Background

This refuge has emerged from a community need for animal and bird rescue and rehabilitation. The project funding relies entirely on volunteers and donations to operate. Your kind support will help to improve the quality of life for 100's of native animals and birds for future generations to enjoy, not just as extinct exhibits in museum.


TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

Back to top

Feedback

If you have any comments about the site or know of any other sites that may be useful for us, or even just to contact us, why not send us an email and let us know.  We wecome your suggestions and corrections.