Kangaroo sighting

At 1:30 a.m., a week ago last Saturday, Mike Rollins was driving to work on Hwy. 1883 when he spotted a very unusual animal. Rollins said when he realized he had seen something out of the ordinary, he stopped his truck and backed up.

“I’ve seen a lot of exotic animals,” Rollins said. “I’d never seen a kangaroo before though.”

The animal “was standing alongside a fence row with several deer,” Rollins said. “He didn’t seem too scared because once I stopped I sat and stared at it for a while.”

Rollins said the kangaroo was about the size of a doe going into the yearling stage and probably weighed 60 to 70 pounds.

“It just stood there on its hind legs looking at me,” Rollins said.

Angela Perkins of Owenton lost a kangaroo about 10 months ago. Her pet, Cletus Eugene, is suspected to be the kangaroo spotted by Rollins.

Perkins got her kangaroo from New Zealand in June of 2008.

On Oct. 26, 2008, Perkins was getting out of her car when her dog jumped on her, scaring Cletus. The miniature kangaroo took off, and that was the last time Perkins saw him.

Perkins said no one had contacted her reporting a sighting of Cletus since December. “I try not to think about it,” Perkins said. ”I wanted to believe that he was OK, but I wasn’t sure.”

Perkins said the description given by Rollins sounds exactly like what her kangaroo would look like after all this time.

“Cletus would be reaching the 18 to 24 months maturity stage,” Perkins said. “Males do get that large, anywhere from 32 to 36 inches tall and somewhere between 60 and 70 pounds. It would not be uncommon for him to be a little taller than that because he is a male.”

Perkins said she isn’t surprised that the kangaroo did not run from Rollins.

“That’s not anything new,” Perkins said. “He’s used to people.”

Perkins said she’s glad to hear that Cletus might still be out there, and she encourages people to pick up the phone and let her know of any other possible sightings.

“I try not to think about it,” Perkins said. “But for me to be able to deal with losing him I have to think he’s still alive. I’d give anything to have him back. I could have 150 more kangaroos, but there would never be another one like him.”

To contact Perkins about a possible sighting of Cletus Eugene, call (502)750-0773.