There is....

[digitaldiscipline]

.... a kangaroo in my bedroom.





That is Roofus McRoo, a joey from the Lowry Park Zoo. K is taking care of him this evening.

Our cats have -no- idea what to do with a thirty-pound rabbit-like thing that spends most of its time in a tote bag and, on his hind legs, stands about two feet tall.

He was rejected by his dam when he was v. young and got a little chewed up (back half of his tail, couple fingers on his right paw) when he was very young (~2 months). He's being hand-raised, and is almost 9 months old.

He nibbles on kale, carrots, apples, celery, and herbi-pellets. He also has a bottle of milk/formula.

He can also get up a pretty good, if ungainly, head of steam on carpet or grass, as we discovered when we took him out to do his business.

Comments

[argylerockstar.livejournal.com]

OMG! Is that really in your bedroom? Is she taking care of it for the weekend?

[argylerockstar.livejournal.com]

If that kangaroo is really in your bedroom, that makes me want to hop the next flight to sunny FL to play with your kangaroo.

Has kind of a dirty sound to it, doesn't it..."play with your kangaroo".

[trystbat.livejournal.com]

Heh, best new pickup line!

[argylerockstar.livejournal.com]

I really think that kangaroo is going to be my new naughty bits term. In fact, I'll hop right on that.

I'm seriously amusing myself.

marsupial love!

[trystbat.livejournal.com]

And what have we gots in our pocketeses?

[etcet.livejournal.com]

you're going to jump me?

[etcet.livejournal.com]

Technically, it's in my office / the guest bedroom.

At the moment, it's in the middle room of our house, next to K's desk, so she can keep an eye on him.

[kat1031.livejournal.com]

That's very cool in an odd sort of way.

I'm assuming that a visiting kangaroo probably needs some sort of intensive care which is why the kangaroo is with you guys and not in the zoo?

[etcet.livejournal.com]

He was rejected by his dam when he was v. young and got a little chewed up (back half of his tail, couple fingers on his right paw) when he was very young (~2 months). He's being hand-raised, and is almost 9 months old.

He nibbles on kale, carrots, apples, celery, and herbi-pellets. He can also get up a pretty good, if ungainly, head of steam on carpet or grass, as we discovered when we took him out to do his business....

[kat1031.livejournal.com]

Very, very cute.

Do they have any idea why his dam rejected him?

[etcet.livejournal.com]

Nope. Just one of those things.

[kat1031.livejournal.com]

That's sad.

How did he enjoy his visit?

[ladyclayton.livejournal.com]

He's very cute, but...why?

[lisamantchev.livejournal.com]

OMG. Cutest thing evar! Details please!

[ldybastet.livejournal.com]

Awww! cute! But this is both strange and unusual. *g* So, what's the story?

[hellsop.livejournal.com]

At least they let K do her overtime from home...

[etcet.livejournal.com]

No, this is unpaid, more of a "fringe benefit."

[geekers.livejournal.com]

"Is that a kangaroo in yer pocket bedroom... ?"

[the-tatyana.livejournal.com]

It's my dream to foster lion, panther, or tiger cubs for the zoo. This is very close to that dream. LUCKY!!!

[etcet.livejournal.com]

I'm sure our cats would be thrilled with that. Heh.

[geeki.livejournal.com]

Very cool!!!!

It's all fun and games...

[tomakins.livejournal.com]

[bitogoth.livejournal.com]

yay piccies! he's much bigger now than i imagined. and what does he make of the cats? lol

[etcet.livejournal.com]

he's interested, but not much with the bright. they move and smell and interact, so they're interesting.

[megiddo-lj.livejournal.com]

Future minion. SOOO very a future minion. the MORD has been alerted.

[tylorael.livejournal.com]

OMG !!!! SOOOO CUTE!

And it's awesome to see him now since I remember him much much smaller.

boingy boingy boingy

[yokes1971.livejournal.com]

How cool. Mrs Y wants pictures, and also volunteers to watch Roofus any weekend :-)

[timly.livejournal.com]

what an unusual and interesting experience. that alone make it shiny indeed. :D

[etcet.livejournal.com]

Like my forehead isn't shiny enough, amirite?

[nener.livejournal.com]

That is just way too cool! I'm jealous.

[rachellll.livejournal.com]

This wins for coolest post so far in my vacation back-log catchup reading. WOW!

[fenixinthedark.livejournal.com]

Wow! You and deviathan have both now reminded me of my childhood, growing up with a sister who worked with the Humane Society, rescuing animals. I wonder what message the Universe is trying to send me here...

That has to be *the* cutest pic all day. :::hugs to you and the Kimachu from me and mine:::

gah

[aishlynn.livejournal.com]

ok, first of all i just want to make a few minor corrections - Roofus is actually only about 8 lbs., not 30, as Rafe was kind enough to step on the scale while holding him. He just LOOKS much larger than he actually is and i am a piss-poor guess-timator of weights sometimes. he's very narrow in the upper body and doesn't have the full lower body muscle development yet (obviously as a 9 month old he has a ways to go...). He's a Grey Kangaroo (Macropus giganteus) which aren't the 8-foot-tall ones (those are the Reds) and here's a wikipedia link that has some good general info on them and of course the gobs or related wiki-type links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Grey_Kangaroo

We don't know why his mother rejected him, however it is not uncommon for it to happen, both in captivity and in the wild. First-time mothers occasionally abandon their young and that may have been the case with this little guy - he was fortunate that the keeper staff found him. We honestly didn't think he'd last out the week in the incubator, but that was in Feb. and here he is! The reason he's coming home with me is because he's not very good at getting in and out of his surrogate pouch (it's basically a tote-bag) and he needs a bottle feeding between 10:30 and 11 PM. He's almost totally on solids (as Rafe detailed - only correction is no celery, add sweet potato and he's eating kangaroo pellets, not herbivore pellets...they're a specific formulation for 'roos/wallabys and are different shape as well from true herbivore pellets) but just isn't willing to give up the bottle totally yet. We figure he's got a few more weeks of it. The pouch thing is proving to be a bit of a pain, because if it were a real mother 'roo's pouch, it'd have some elasticity to it and of course, she could help scoop him in. He's being slowly introduced to the mob down in our walla-roo area (wallabys AND kangaroos) and all intros have gone well so far, so we're not anticipating any problems. it's just slow going because we can't just leave him there if he can't get into his pouch to hide in when he feels scared. Kangaroos and wallabys can literally panic themselves to death...and that would suck A LOT.
i'm happy to be trusted to help with his care - it's one of the "perks" of being part of the clinic staff i think! but it's a bit nerve-wracking and i will go on record to say that wildlife in general does NOT MAKE GOOD HOUSE PETS.
anyway, the vet techs that have been raising him to this point are now going to be hand-raising a Florida Panther cub (yes, you read that right) that was found abandoned by Mom and her other 3 siblings...she's 3 weeks old, paralyzingly cute. she requires a much more constant care level because of an injury and the constant feeding needed and frankly, these folks deserve to have a minute's break now and then. so the other hospital keeper and i are taking over with Roofus so they don't burnout and all. for now, the cub is not for me to help with outside of work...YET. mwhahahaha. yea, i have a darn cool job. :)

Re: gah

[kendra-manycats.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for posting about Roofus. I hope the cub does well too.

You job is the COOL!

Re: gah

[felisdemens.livejournal.com]

That is awesome beyond measure.