Saturday, December 10, 2005

Roos Run Rampant in Rural Wisconsin


It seems that kangaroo sightings in rural Southern Wisconsin are beginning to be an annual occurance. Last winter, a 130-pound kangaroo was seen hopping about the snow-strewn hills of Iowa County for two days before he was finally lured into a horsebarn on a farm near Dodgeville. Roo, as he was nicknamed, now resides at the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison. Iowa County sheriff's officials gave the zoo permission to keep him when noone came forward to claim him after two months earlier this year.

Friday, another kangaroo was sighted in Southern Wisconsin, this time in Juneau county. The 50-pound marsupial darted in front of Ralph Hamm's truck in his Mauston driveway. Hamm said he didn't have time to stop and figures the roo had been living under a culvert on his property. The culvert area had "a lot of tracks and a line where he dragged his tail," he said, which he thought indicated the animal had been there for some time. There had been no reports of kangaroo sightings prior to the incident. When Hamm reported it to the DNR he was informed that it was out of their jurisdiction, leaving him stuck with the carcass.

Former Juneau County DNR warden Tom Jodarski said he had never seen a kangaroo in the Juneau County area during his 20 years with the DNR, but "as time goes on, you never know what you're going to hear."

4 comments:

starbender said...

Awwww....
But their so cute!
:)

Jana said...

Incredibly odd to hear about Kangroos in Wisconsin. lol Neat though.

Maggie Nash said...

I thought it was too cold in Wisconsin for Roos...lol...

Heather said...

Margie~ With the below freezing temps we've been having, you would think it was too cold for them here, yet this is the second winter in a row one has been spotted bounding about our snow-covered world.

Laura~ LOL - much more usual or you to see one than we here in Wisconsin. I imagine Melbourne Roo sightings are sort of like seeing a deer or bear wander into town here.

You can't help but wonder how long the roo was out there on his own. Can you imagine a drunk deer hunter coming across a roo in the woods? It'd be like the Sylvester the Cat cartoon where he thinks he's found a really big mouse with a kick. LOL