WILDLIFE carer Wendy Jarman, who died last week, was a registered carer in Collie for 39 years, but was a lifelong carer in practice.
Born in Narrogin, Wendy came to Collie as a child and attended Amaroo Primary School for a time, just one in a line of 16 different schools she attended in locations from the north of the state, to the Wheatbelt and the South West.
From a young age, she was fascinated by wildlife of all types and sizes, picking up injured birds and animals on her way home from school, to the despair of her mother.
She lived on farms at Mumballup and Kulin, among others, and there were always animals to care for.
Wendy had an open-door policy, caring for whatever animal or bird was brought to her door, including kangaroos, wallabies, echidnas, emus, possums, barn owls, tawny owls, golden owls, crows, eagles, black cockatoos of all three varieties, 28s, pink and greys, swallows, bats and budgies.
Caring for the animals came at a considerable personal cost. To feed a joey for 12 months could cost between $1500 and $2000, and then there were the vet fees and other medical needs.
When she first became a carer, carers were given an allowance to help them out, but after a time that was dropped and carers had to raise money themselves, as well as caring for the animals.
She did receive support from local businesses at times, particularly from Premier Coal through Geoff Blackford, but later found grants were likely to go to groups, and she was just a lone person.
Caring for the animals and birds involved using a lot of blankets, sheets and doonas, and the wildlife were not house-trained, so a lot of bedding had to be discarded once it was soiled.
Wendy sourced a lot from op shops, but was grateful for items donated by local people.
She picked up her skills through experience and from other wildlife carers who would swap information.
Her care of wildlife earned her an Australia Day Collie Citizen of the Year award in 2013.
She will be missed by her many friends in Collie, and even more so by the wildlife of the town and surrounds.