Friday, April 24, 2009

If Ever There Was......

.....a picture that could say a thousand words.....I think this has to be it! A real "Kodak Moment" for sure.

I first saw this picture in February of this year when the fires were still raging in Australia. I was so touched by the picture I had to find out more.....Who was this compassionate hero and what became of the precious wild critter? It wasn't very hard to find out more because the story was so special that it was being reported everywhere. Just in case you haven't heard the details I will share them here. The hero in the picture is David Tree a volunteer firefighter from Victoria, Australia. The little wild koala, nicknamed Sam despite being a girl has been rescued and is recovering at a Wildlife shelter. I was even able to find a video of the experience. The poor frightened koala was running away from the firefighters at first and then stopped and sat down. Mr. Tree called for someone to bring him water and the exhausted animal desperately drank up three bottles of water. Mr. Tree said that the koala put his paw out to him and he took it in his hand. That image adds such preciousness to the photo. Normally kolas do not spend much time on the ground and they move very slowly on such an unnatural terrain for them. They also very rarely drink water because they usually get enough fluids from the leaves they eat. Also a wild koala is reportedly a rather grouchy critter and would not choose the company of a human. Despite the foreign nature of the whole experience the koala drank from the water bottle as naturally as if it were an old hand at drinking that way. When I see this picture I see the koala thinking "I am so frightened of you being a people but I am so distressed and weak and frightened and thirsty. Not only that, my paws are burnt and it hurts so to walk. Can you help me Mr. people?" They estimate that up to 1 million native animals died in those devastating fires. That is so sad to think about. Mr. Tree has since been recognized the world over as a hero. They expected the koala to make a full recovery in about 5 months.
I would love to hear from you. What does this picture say to you?
=^..^=

10 comments:

  1. What a LOVELY shot :))
    Very nice picture !!
    Have a nice weekend (@^.^@)

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  2. What an amazing but emotional photo....I'm very much an animal person and I cant bare to think of an animal in distress. They are such beautiful creatures koala's and the true compassion from Mr. Tree instills faith for me in man kind that all are not out on a path of destruction. We need to be taking more care of our planet and the creatures that live on it. Afterall we are just another species living along side all the rest. xxx

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  3. It's unfortunate what happened to all of the animals in Australia. So much rich wildlife was lost.

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  4. That is precious yet really sad! To think about all the animals that died in the fires? Horrible. Glad some of them were saved though.

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  5. It makes me so sad thinking about all the critters that died in the fire :( It's nice to know that there are others out there who would do the same as I and help the critters out.

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  6. I love koalas and this is a great picture. Just goes to show how a little act of kindness, whether "people" or "critter" is always appreciated.

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  7. Thank you for visiting my blog today.. I will definitely post when and if they are found!

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  8. Fabulous post!!!

    Thank you for joining my cult!!! I shall stalk you too!!

    Love the fish tank. Kind of addictive feeding them. I feel like they are alive.... and watching me :-o

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  9. Thats unbelievable!! its so cool there is people than still care for animals! cute videoQ

    http://crazycat.blogspot

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  10. I would love to put this your story and pic on my blog. If it's alright could you send it to me. People need to know more about this and I haven't heard a thing and it's June here. Thanks you for putting the info out there.

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Update on Australian Wildlife After Fires