How Is It a Kangaroo Wound Up Hopping Down a West Virginia Road?

About 15 years ago, I was returning from Nashville late in the evening. Heading north on Interstate 65, just south of Bowling Green, I saw what I thought was a dead kangaroo on the side of the road. Sure, it could have been a deer--probably was--but I was close enough to it when I passed, and I would have sworn it was a kangaroo.

At first I thought it had escaped from Kentucky Down Under, but that's up north of Cave City and 44 miles away from Bowling Green. I supposed it COULD have escaped and made its way down to the Franklin area, but I searched "kangaroo escapes from Kentucky Down Under" and got nothing.

My point is that--unlikely as it would be--it would seem that it's far more likely that the world's most recognizable marsupial would pop up on a Kentucky highway than a West Virginia highway, but that's what happened just a few days ago.

My friend Marty McNeil, who used to live in West Virginia and near where the 'roo was spotted, shared this video Sarah Vance posted last week. The creature was spotted in Mud Fork, WV. And despite the fact that it was making people late for work, folks--understandably--couldn't get enough of this guy or gal.

Yes, it WOULD SEEM like a stray kangaroo might not be as surprising on a Kentucky highway relatively close to a kangaroo enclosure, but we didn't factor in the reality that you can OWN a kangaroo as a pet in West Virginia.

Now...anyone want to try for a koala permit? Who knows? We might just create an "outback" in West Virginia, yet.

[SOURCE: WSAZ-Huntington]