Passion for possums

By Tania Martin
WENDY Brain never dreamt she would ever hit the big screen.
The Monbulk wildlife carer was last week interviewed for a segment on an upcoming episode of Channel Nine’s Talk to the Animals.
Mrs Brain was approached after the producers of the show heard that she cares for injured and orphaned possums.
But, what’s really interesting is that she often takes her little charges to school with her.
Mrs Brain is the office manager at Monbulk Primary School.
Students at the school can regularly be seen taking a keen interest in Mrs Brains’ latest rescued possum.
For Mrs Brain, looking after injured wildlife has always been a passion.
But, it wasn’t until three years ago that she started living the dream when a family friend got her involved in caring for sick possums.
“It’s always something I wanted to do,” she said.
Mrs Brain admitted she was ‘terrified’ when she heard that Talk to the Animals wanted to feature her on the show.
“It was unbelievable…I was shocked,” she said.
Her latest charge, Olga, a ringtail possum will star in the episode that is set to air early next year.
Olga was rescued from a pack of magpies by another woman.
Mrs Brain said the woman had been nursing a sick guinea pig at the time when she rescued little Olga.
But, in a sad twist of fate, the guinea pig died.
Mrs Brain, who said she would look after Olga until it reaches 500 grams, plans to release her back into the wild.