Kangaroo captures hearts of Wimberley

#10 MAY 2, 2019

Who knew that Wimberley needed a walkabout?

A jailbird (jailroo?) Australian marsupial took Wimberley, and Texas, on an adventure last week after the kangaroo escaped an exotic wildlife ranch near The Junction.

“I was here for three days trying to catch him, and he never showed up once,” Roy Dale, owner of the ranch, said. “I had been out of town for a few hours, and my phone started ringing with people who had seen him.”

The residents of Summer Mountain Ranch, a subdivision on Ranch Road 12 on the way to San Marcos, were treated to an extended excursion as the kangaroo was out for about a week.

“I bought the kangaroo for my grand daughter to look at,” Dale, who owns an exotic ranch in Eden, Texas but kept the animal at his property in Wimberley, said. “I have a fence, and I didn’t think he could get out. I don’t know much about kangaroos, but everybody I called said he couldn’t jump over that fence. I guess they were wrong.”

Dale thinks that the kangaroo jumped over a cattle guard to get free from the property. He was out for about a week. In that time, the roo’s hop through Wimberley caught the attention of locals who aren’t used to the exotic animal in the Texas Hill Country.

“I thought it was some joke,” Constable Ray Helm said. “And then we got a couple of more calls about it and Facebook postings, and I got a call that evening about 5 p.m. I went out there and there it was, a kangaroo. It was pretty strange. I had never seen anything like that except at a zoo. It was neat to see it jumping around out there. I never thought I’d see a kangaroo in Wimberley, Texas.”

Soon enough, Wimberley had a new mascot. Someone even started a Facebook page “Wimberley Kangaroo for City Council” while another wore a kangaroo costume to the street dance at Wimberley Ace Hardware. An online poll attempted to name the animal with votes for names such as “Wimbo Roo,” (by the way, his name is Harry).

It soon became obvious that it wasn’t just Wimberley that was smitten with its new friend. After Austin media outlets began covering the escape, the story even made it to Texas Monthly in a piece called “The Best Thing in Texas: An Escaped Kangaroo Takes a Wimberley Walkabout.”

The attention shocked Dale, who is accustomed to seeing exotic animals through his job. Neighbors were walking the streets in search of the animal coming together over the interesting mishap.

“I think it brought together some people who haven’t talked in years,” Dale said. “There were people walking and looking and joking. It might have been a good thing that he got out.”

Helm agreed. It might have been a good thing for Wimberley.

“I thought the response was great,” Helm said. “I never thought people would be that interested in a kangaroo. Everybody agreed on something for once. It was unbelievable. It really took hold and gave us something different for while.”

Over the weekend, Dale was able to trap the kangaroo. He used a tranquilizer dart and said the process went “smoother than (he) could imagine.”

And in the process, Dale even learned a few new things about his kangaroo.

“I didn’t have a clue that he was as gentle as he was,” Dale said after the kangaroo was trapped and in transport. “You can reach out there and pet him and feed him carrots. It was like a bottle baby. He was just so gentle.”

While many have been secretly hoping the kangaroo might make a break for the fences again, this was likely a one-time affair. Dale brought it back to his exotic ranch in Eden, where the fences are a little bit higher than his home in Wimberley.

Even if it was just a weeklong adventure, the trip was a welcome sight. It was just the type of walkabout that Wimberley needed.