A man was walking through the parking lot of a shopping center in Australia when he noticed something odd. There appeared to be something stuck behind the grille of a nearby car — and then he realized it was moving.
The Good Samaritan immediately contacted WIRES, then grabbed a tarp and an umbrella to try and shield the little animal from the sun while he waited for the rescuers to arrive. As the team assessed the situation, the owner of the car returned — and couldn’t believe there was a wallaby stuck inside her car.
“We believe the wallaby was probably crossing the road at high speed and went under the car and was flipped up behind the grille,” John Grant, a media spokesperson for WIRES, told The Dodo. “The vehicle owner didn’t even realise she had hit anything, so was shocked when she arrived back to her car to find the poor animal trapped behind the grille. She had driven from nearby, so it had been there for less than 45 minutes.”
WIRES volunteer Mark Badger determined that it was too dangerous to try and remove the wallaby, later named Arnie, himself as the animals are prone to extreme stress that can lead to complications. Instead, he contacted Byron Bay Wildlife Hospital, and Dr. Brie Talbot arrived on the scene to sedate Arnie.
Once he was sedated, the team was able to safely remove Arnie from behind the car grille. After checking him over, Dr. Talbot was shocked to discover the little wallaby somehow had no injuries from his ordeal.
“He was nicknamed Arnie after Arnold Schwarzenegger due to his amazing ability and strength in surviving such a traumatic event unscathed,” Grant said.
Arnie was placed into the care of another WIRES volunteer, and within a day, he was eating and drinking normally and seemed to be feeling just fine. He was kept under observation for a few weeks to make sure he was completely OK, then he was released back into the wild, where he belonged.
“Like nearly all rescues, he bounded off without a backward glance, which is always celebrated as a successful outcome by every wildlife volunteer,” Grant said.