Washington State Patrol troopers and Pierce County sheriff’s deputies hopped to it early Sunday morning when they got reports of kangaroo near the intersection of 158th Street East and B Street East in Spanaway.
After receiving the call at about 6:40 a.m., state troopers were first on the scene. Over the radio, they described the long-tailed, 2½-foot tall jumper as having “big ears and tiny forearms.”
Seeing a kangaroo may be common in Australia, but this is Washington state. And it wasn’t a kangaroo, but the closely related wallaby.
Video provided by the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department shows officers cornering the marsupial before it easily eludes them and bounces away.
“After several attempts, a Trooper was able to tackle the Wallaby,” Pierce County sheriff’s Sgt. Darren Moss said in a statement.
According to National Geographic, wallabies can be nearly 4 feet tall and weigh up to 50 pounds. Their kangaroo cousins, however, can grow much bigger, up to 8 feet tall and 200 pounds.
Moss said the wallaby was returned to its owners at Debbie Dolittle’s Petting Zoo in Parkland, about a mile and half north of where it was found.
Reached by phone Sunday afternoon, someone at the petting zoo said, “That’s not our wallaby.” They did not give a name and they provided no further information.