Mel & the Menagerie, native & domestic animal rescue inc

23/06/2026

FROM BOTTLE BABY TO CITY PRINCESS 🖤🐾

Some of you might remember little Smooch…

A tiny bottle baby raised here at Mel & the Menagerie, who stole hearts from the moment she arrived. Like so many hand-raised babies, we worried about what would happen when it was time for her to leave. Would she find her person?

Enter Ben. 🖤

Now known as Mirka the Meerkat, this once-fragile little rescue cat is living the dream as a pampered city girl. Her days are filled with sunny naps, cozy blankets, endless love & yes… sleeping with her little toes stretched out against the heater like the absolute queen she believes she is. 👑

Every rescue we raise leaves paw prints on our hearts, but the happy endings make every sleepless night worth it.

Thank you, Ben, for the updates years later & for giving our girl the forever home she deserved. Seeing Mirka so loved, safe & ridiculously spoiled is everything we could have hoped for.

Sometimes rescue means letting go.

And sometimes letting go gives an animal the life of their dreams. 🖤🐾

22/06/2026

🖤 One tiny life. One chance.

This gorgeous sugar glider was brought inside by a pet cat 💔😔

Thankfully, the owner immediately contacted us & sought veterinary care, giving this little one the best possible chance after what was likely a devastating encounter.

There are concerns about nerve damage to the left shoulder. The limb is still working, but not quite right. Whether that’s bruising, inflammation, or something more serious, only time will tell. Infection from the interactions with bacteria in the cat’s mouth & claws is the real concern 🙁

Sadly, this is a reminder of why cats need to be contained. Even well-fed, much-loved pets retain their natural hunting instincts & our native wildlife pays the price. Every year, countless gliders, possums, birds, reptiles & small mammals are injured or killed by roaming cats.

Right now, this little soul is warm, medicated, full of good food & wrapped in as much sheer will to live that we can provide!

Wildlife rescue often sits in that uncomfortable space between hope & heartbreak.

Tonight, we’re choosing hope.

Please keep this tiny forest sprite in your thoughts & if you share your home with a cat, please keep them safely contained. For their safety & our beautiful wildlife.

It could save a life like this one. 🖤✨🐿️

21/06/2026

Make sure you follow Yarram Koala Sanctuary
We are so very proud to be a small part of this project 🐨🖤🌱
Come on the journey with us!

21/06/2026

💔 Right at our front gate today.

A healthy wombat, struck by a vehicle just metres from our driveway.

No mange. No illness. No long battle.

Just a beautiful wild girl who should have had many more years ahead of her.

We spent a moment telling her how sorry we are & then carried her home to the bush she belonged to. 🌱

Rest well in the Dreamtime , beautiful girl.

We couldn’t save you, but we’ll honour you the best way we know how, by raising many more furry forest bulldozers in the years to come. 🖤

18/06/2026

💔😔💔

18/06/2026

17/06/2026

💔 This one hit a little close to home.

Three kilometres from our gate, on our way to feed little Dobby, we found this brushtail lying in the middle of the road.

A few hours earlier he was likely munching of green leaves & bugs up in a his tree 😞

We pulled over, moved his little body off the road & back into the bush he called home.
It doesn’t change the outcome, but it felt wrong to leave him there on the bitumen.

Wildlife road trauma isn’t just something that happens “somewhere else”.
It happens here. It happens down the road from you too.
Every day.
To animals with homes, territories, families and lives as complex & important to them as ours are to us.

Maybe it hit harder because we were on our way to feed our Dobby, another little brushtail who got a second chance.

This fellow wasn’t so lucky.

Drive carefully.
Slow down where wildlife lives.
Keep your eyes on the roadsides.

Because for every animal that makes it into care, many more never get that chance.

Sleep well little mate🌱🖤