Deadwood family enjoys kangaroos as pets
Published: September 7, 2005
Kangaroo Jack is alive and well and living near Deadwood.
But rather than the mischievous animal on the silver screen, this kangaroo is much more laid back, and he enjoys the company of his 26 other hopping companions, as well as the care of his owners, Kevin and Roxy Bell.
The Bells, who recently moved to the Boulder Canyon area from Southern Wyoming, own a total of 16 wallabies, six wallaroos, and four kangaroos. The difference between them, Roxy Bell said, is that wallabies tend to be 2 feet tall, wallaroos are 4 feet, and kangaroos are the tallest, ranging from 5 - 8 feet tall.
While their animals came from a kangaroo research facility/sanctuary in Denver, where 30 kangaroos live happily in conditions similar to those in their natural habitat of Australia, Bell said her family initially fell in love with the animals during a routine business trip to the continent. Their software company, Beltek, sells products that originate in Australia, and during a regular conference, Bell said her son fell in love with the animals. He promptly announced that he wanted a “Big Red” kangaroo (which range in size from6 - 8 feet tall.)
“I said he would get something smaller first,” she said.
After their son and daughter bought the family’s first two wallabies, Bell said the kangaroo population at their house just continued to grow. In order to avoid interbreeding the animals, Bell said the family continued to purchase more, and just kept them as pets.
“I love it. I just think it’s great,” Bell said of raising the animals. “I love to share it with people. They’re such unique animals that if people want to talk about it I’ll sit and talk all day. I really enjoy learning about them.”
While Bell said her family is always mindful of the wild nature of the kangaroos, she said the animals are not much different than a domesticated pet, such as a dog or cat. While the hoppers must be bottle fed when they are young, Bell said once they mature they eat a regular brand of kangaroo food, fruits and vegetables, wheat bread and hay. As far as personalities go, Bell said the animals can be very self-sufficient and friendly.
“They’re lap animals,” she said. “They’ll come and lay with you and watch TV. They will just do like a dog or a cat would. They’ll follow you around.”
In fact, she said many families that are childless, or who have a disabled person in the family find that the kangaroos are a source of comfort in the home.
“They are just like little babies,” she said. “You do a lot of the same things (with them) that you would do with a (baby). You take care of them, you bottle feed them, and you’re actually closer to these guys because you bottle feed them, than you are to most dogs or cats. There are a lot of people who have kangaroos that don’t have children. (I also) know a guy who has them trained for the hearing impaired. (His kangaroos) come and grab the (person’s) hands when the phone rings or when the doorbell rings. So they’re not a dumb animal at all. They could be used as a special needs animal.”
In addition to being very friendly, Bell said her wallabies also flourish in the South Dakota climates, especially during a big snow storm. However, the bigger kangaroos and wallaroos migrate inside.
“Actually, the bigger they are in Australia the more down on the beach and the lower elevation they are,” Bell explained. “So the wallabies are actually in high altitude and get snow. During snowstorms we have a hard time getting our wallabies inside, they love the snow. We have one that actually grabs the snow and throws it into the air.”
While kangaroos are considered an exotic animal by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bell said in South Dakota the family does not need any special permits to own the animals. The only documentation required, she said, was when they transferred the animals across state lines.
Once they got here, Bell said the family’s biggest challenge was trying to find a veterinarian to care for the unique pets. After calling 45 vets between Belle Fourche and Rapid City, Bell said they finally found one. Dr. Curt Stonecipher said he would take on the challenge caring for the animals. Though the animals do not carry any diseases, and do not require any special shots or treatments, Bell said many veterinarians were hesitant to learn enough about them to care for them.
“We were really lucky we had (a vet) because we moved them up and then four days later one broke her leg,” Bell said.
Despite the challenges of owning kangaroos, Bell said she and her family enjoy their unique pets tremendously. From bottle feeding them, to lounging with them on the couch she said the experience of owning such personable animals has been very rewarding. But the best part about owning the animals, she said, is boxing with them.
“(Before they had babies) we never had two of them the same size so they could box like they do in their actual habitat,” she said. “So we will actually go out there and box with them. You just kind of push them around a little bit and you jump around on your feet and then they stand up on their tail and box back with you. What we learned in Australia is that we have to give in to them. We can’t always win when we box with them. I have tried it with Jack and if he is getting kind of rough I back down and act like I am crying. He just stops right there. So he does realize that something is wrong”
If you enjoyed this good news Subscribe to Good News Blog
If you like this, you'll love Good Animal News:
Share this
To share this simply copy and paste one of the below URL's: