Residents of a small town in Florida have been startled to note a giant marsupial roaming the streets for the past few weeks. It's not a big rabbit, but a wallaby on the loose.

Texan tourist Brenda Aldrich told ClickOrlando.com that her daughter's pet wallaby escaped from its harness during a walk and hopped off into the darkness earlier in March. The Aldrichs returned to Houston, but the loose wallaby stuck around the small town of Windmere, in Orange County
Residents have spotted the marsupial all over Windermere, reports the Web site, including the elementary school, Bay Hill, Lake Bessie and George Bailey Park. Some have even called police.

Joey Aussie Kangaroo, or JAK, the 1-year-old Wallaby, even likes watching TV -- the Discovery Channel, reports the Orlando Sentinel. Aldrich had converted a porch for the marsupial, which is best friends with Aldrich's other pet, a Yorkie named Hollister, the paper says.

Wallaby's are unusual pets to be sure. Part of the macropod family of critters native to Australia, the creatures reportedly make fun pets. According to PetPlace.com, owners need to "wallaby-proof" their homes and set up large hopping areas for the creatures, which are known to jump on counters and other high places.

For more information, visit ClickOrlando.com.

The site reports that wallabys enjoy bathing with their human owners.

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Web site, a wallaby owner must obtain a class III wildlife permit, which requires the owner to fill out a questionnaire about the animals care. The permit is free and is the same class permit required for raccoons, opossums and skunks.

GO AUSSIE'S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now all he needs is a JAK-lene to go forth & multiply! Another Aus invasion! Way to go
Cheers, Matt.

Hehaha that is pretty bizarre!

Perhaps we could turn the tables... anybody got a coyote some other US critter I could keep as a pet here in Australia?

Something that goes well with two small dogs (and I don't mean gravy).

Nah two dogs is enough.

Cheers,


Dave

A crab pot goes well with 2 small dogs
a fair trade 2 dogs for 2 mud crabs

just joking

they still say there's a black panther-looking cat up in the hills near my place that the US military had as a pet and let loose at the end of WWII.
would have to be the oldest cat alive if it was, coz it'd be over 65 years old now!!

We have a yowie in our back yard.The park in town has a statue of it and the tourists kept taking his privates now he is a it.

Funny about that Panther story, PR91, there's supposedly one in Sydney's Blue Mountains - said to have escaped from Ashton's Circus...............

Do Cain Toads count? From South America via Hawaii.

If you want, you can have all the Chinese Jumping Carp you can haul out of our rivers.

The first thought after reading the Wallaby story title was: "The alligators will take care of that problem pretty quick". But it sounds like an interesting pet.

We've got more than enough Cain Toads as it is!

and Carp for that matter! Our rivers are brimming with the bloody things!