This is not the kind of call you expect to get in rural Wisconsin – Australia maybe, but definitely not in Kenosha County. First responders said they initially scratched their heads when they found out a five-year-old kangaroo had been spotted on the lam from a Wisconsin farm. Joey, the kangaroo in question, had managed to escape his enclosure at the petting zoo at Jerry Smith Pumpkin farm on Thursday and had hopped his way onto the rural county roads nearby.

As reported by CBS Chicago, it was the Kenosha County Sheriff’s office that got a call to say a kangaroo had been spotted in a yard at around 7:15 a.m.

Thursday, leading them to dispatch deputies on what they termed a “loose animal call.”

Loose animal call confuses in Kenosha County

The initial call came in from Somers Fire Chief Carson Wilkinson, who had spotted the kangaroo hopping along a rural road around four blocks away from the Kenosha farm. Wilkinson said at first he thought he must be losing his mind. He said he looked at the animal and said, no way, there are no kangaroos around there. But of course, it turned out there were. Deputies who responded to the call were also doubtful, thinking it must surely be a dog on the loose. However, on arrival at the scene, they discovered it was, indeed, a fugitive marsupial.

Deputy questions how to capture a kangaroo

As can be heard on an NBC News WTMJ video below, Deputy Nicole Sorensen was the officer who first arrived at the scene and spotted Joey. She had been working on a car crash close by. She said she looked up and there the marsupial was, standing on the ditch line. Sorensen thought that is a kangaroo, asking herself what on Earth she should do.

Eventually, the various sheriff and fire vehicles managed to corral the errant Joey until his handler arrived to take him home to his enclosure in the Petting Zoo. Kenosha County Sheriff’s Sgt. Mark Malecki did admit to WBBM News Radio that this was one of the most unusual cases he had dealt with during his time on the force.

Joey the kangaroo back in the petting zoo

According to workers, they established Joey had managed to kick open the enclosure gate with his powerful legs before going on the lam. However, while Joey is no doubt happy to have had his little adventure in the wild, this will likely be his first and only escape. Workers at the Jerry Smith Pumpkin farm petting zoo have now reinforced the kangaroo’s enclosure in order to keep him safe and stop other potential escape attempts by the wily marsupial.
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