We see the burnt houses and sheds littered with destroyed belongings and fields of lost live stock. 

What you don’t often hear is that fires affect wildlife too. 

Sure, they evolved in this country with frequent fires and most are able to get out of the way, either by flying or hopping or digging down into the earth, but sometimes fires happen suddenly and take animals unawares. 

This is what happened recently in Milton. Wildlife rescue groups have worked together to help injured and distressed wildlife.

The first call was to a large python that found itself injured from the fire and had taken refuge on top of a cement water tank on a farm. 

The snake presented as very lethargic and appeared dehydrated.

It was removed by a licensed wildlife carer and taken to a specialist for assessment and treatment. It was deemed to be very dehydrated, but otherwise luck to escape the fires with no other injuries.

Other calls were to a female swamp wallaby and her joey.

Both were captured and assessed.

The mother was exhausted, in shock and severely dehydrated.

The joey was worse off, with burns to a number of his extremities, he had developed cataracts in both eyes due to dehydration and his lungs were damaged from smoke inhalation.

Both were put to sleep as their injuries were too severe and painful to treat.

Remember, if you find an injured, sick, distressed or orphaned native animal, the sooner it can be taken to a vet or trained wildlife carer, the chances of its survival increase.

The Liberals have no-one else but themselves to blame for their turmoil. 

It’s all related to individuals and greed, at the expense of the national population.

It’s about time the Liberals got out and about among the real people in the community, away from the cameras and fake media publicity for a while.   

A new set of standards and priority’s needs to be set for the Liberals with the help of the wider national population.

Entries are now being taken for the 2018 St Cecilia Youth Music Scholarships.

It is the 23rd consecutive year of the awards.

This year, the total value of the awards is $5700, making it one of the most valuable music awards for young people in Australia.

There will be 12 individual awards and the two top senior awards will be $1000 each.

Following our very successful pop-up concert, we are expecting an increase in entries this year and I would encourage all young musicians in the Eurobodalla to enter.

Classical and contemporary musicians between the ages of eight and 18 living in the municipalities of the Eurobodalla, Bega Valley and the Shoalhaven are encouraged to enter.There is a senior and junior age division .The auditions will be held at St Peter's Anglican College in Broulee on November 3 and 4.

Twelve finalists will be announced to perform at the annual gala finalists' concert at St Bernard Church, Batehaven on Sunday, November 18, at 3pm. It is always a truly wonderful concert.

Entries for this year's auditions close on Friday, September 28. 

Visit www.stcecilia.org.au or phone 0417 532 358.