The group of seven animals currently living at Norma Baker's Bridport home pales in comparison to the assorted 43 which used to reside there.
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Mrs Baker is renowned in her community for her willingness to take on injured or orphaned animals.
The 78-year-old devotedly raises them as her own at her home until they are mature enough to be re-released into the wild.
Mrs Baker was born in Burnie and raised in Launceston, and began raising animals as a child.
"My late mother said I was about 10 years of age and I got quite serious - at that stage I was taking in anything that needed help,” Mrs Baker said.
Despite her father’s protests, she proceeded to bring an array of creatures into her care, including a pig that was the runt of the litter and abandoned by a farmer.
“I couldn't stand that so I brought it home ... she survived, so my dad sort of talked tough but was a bit of a softie over me," Mrs Baker recalled.
He even went on to bring his daughters budgerigars from the City Park aviary, after it became too full.
Mrs Baker met her future husband while holidaying in South Australia – they married and she moved to the state for 40 years.
She continued raising animals as a member of Fauna Rescue group, and raised many birds.
In 1997, Mrs Baker’s beloved husband died from cancer.
“In the year of 2000 we had about three weeks of 40 degree heat [in South Australia] and I thought, ‘I'm going home to Tassie’," Mrs Baker said.
She moved back to her home-state and set up a home in Bridport, which her brother and their late mother chose for her.
Mrs Baker quickly began bringing animals into her home, and soon the situation had “absolutely snowballed”.
“Now I take in absolutely anything except snakes ... I'm too old and they're too quick," she laughed.
Word got out that Mrs Baker, who is a registered wildlife carer, would look after abandoned and orphaned animals.
She said many people learnt about her haven through word of mouth, as well as the council, the vet and police.
People came directly to her with animals “all the time”.
She said her current group of seven, comprising four wombats and three wallabies, was the smallest in a “long, long time”.
She looks after the animals predominantly alone, as they become attached to her whilst they’re young and being bottle-fed.
“My best friend comes around twice a week and once they settle I get to her bottle with me so that, you know, if I got ill or something they're used to somebody else,” Mrs Baker said.
Feeding and bottle-feeding so many animals is an expensive pursuit, and local community groups have been contributing to formula and feeding costs.
The Bridport Ukulele Group have raised funds for Mrs Baker through busking.
You can have a nice house, or you can have wombats, and I’ve opted for wombats
- Bridport wildlife carer Norma Baker
The local senior citizens group made donations through collections, after Nipper the wombat “endeared” himself when Mrs Baker made a presentation to the group.
Bridport Innovations group also raised funds through raffling a quilt.
Mrs Baker hopes to use the funds to buy a humidicrib to raise “the little pink ones”.
Mrs Baker urged Tasmanians to be on the lookout for roadkill which potentially have pouched young.
"If the roadkill looks fresh, and if it's been raining the coat can look terrible but there could well be a joey in there that's just going to have a terribly miserable death unless people stop,” Mrs Baker said.
People can call vets, the RSPCA and regional police about road kill offspring.
"You can ring any number of places but the thing is to get it out, get it warmed up,” Mrs Baker said.
“By that stage, you should be able to take it to someone who can help,” she said.
“The biggest problem is most of them don't get help, they just get hit and left.
"If you have to hit something because you can't avoid it, please check if it's a female and if it's a female check if there's a joey in the pouch."
If roadkill offspring is rescued, it can be given a new lease on life with a loving carer like Mrs Baker.
She generally keeps wombats for the longest of animals, as they take about two years to be ready to be re-released through the “soft release” process.
Mrs Baker bottle feeds them, before getting them used to hard foods and letting them outside in to the yard.
When they’re ready, they can live in pens on her friends’ properties.
Mrs Baker said that since she raised her first wombat in 2002, she’s raised more than 250, and they’ve become her favourite animal.
“You can have a nice house, or you can have wombats, and I’ve opted for wombats,” Mrs Baker said.
"They want their own way, and just like us their temperaments vary so much, some are soft and sooky, and want cuddles all day and others say I don't even want a bottle off you.”
Since she started caring for wildlife as a young girl, she’s saved countless animals.
She said the most unique animal she’s saved at Bridport was a platypus that was washed through storm drains.
She said she develops strong maternal feelings for the animals she raises.
"I don't think I'd be doing it otherwise – you bond very strongly with them all," Mrs Baker said.