Imagine the surprise of Amazon driver Alexis Prochniki when she spotted a kangaroo at the side of the road during her delivery route Tuesday morning near Ridgetown, in south-east Chatham-Kent.
“I was driving down Kenessserie … and saw what I thought was a deer,” said Prochniki, adding “I see them all the time on my route.”
As soon as she got closer, Prochniki realized it was no deer.
“I realized deer don’t have those little arms,” she said.
Prochniki hit the brakes and backed up her vehicle, “and sure enough, it was a Kangaroo!”
Chatham-Kent Police confirmed in a news release that people would not be “hallucinating if they spotted a kangaroo hopping around Reeder’s Line in Howard Township.”
Turns out, according to police, “the little ‘Roo’ made a daring escape from the local Aviaries and went on a short-lived adventure.”
The kangaroo fled from Greenview Park and Zoo, a family run country park and zoo in Morpeth, Ont.
According to its website, the park is “home to over 75 species of animal” including kangaroo.
Police say staff members quickly rounded up the kangaroo and returned it safely to Greenview.
“I’ve since learned his name is Jack,” said Prochniki, who added, “He didn’t seem afraid or anything, just out for a stroll.”
Last month, an escaped kangaroo was on the loose for three days in Oshawa, Ont.
Durham Regional Police said a driver had been delivering two kangaroos to Quebec when he stopped at the Oshawa Zoo to let them stretch their legs when the female kangaroo made her escape.
Prochniki called this latest incident a “memorable moment.”
“I’ve seen some strange things on my route, but this was definitely the strangest,” she said.