Chicago's Phantom Kangaroo

[Una Persson]

My main comment, which I made to Cecil already, is there was lot of great research done for getting to the bottom of this question, and I'm really glad I asked the question. :)

Link to the column: Una asks and Cecil answers: Did a phantom kangaroo once haunt Chicago? (http://chicago.straightdope.com/sdc20100311.php)

[Tapioca Dextrin]

In addition to the wild wallabies mentioned in Wikipedia, there's also a phantom colony of Japanese Jumpers (http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/03/09/2840119.htm)

It may seem odd, but the locals swear it is true. People in a Japanese mountain region have reported a number of kangaroo sightings, and journalists are now trying to stalk the marsupials. The descriptions given by the apparent eyewitnesses seem close enough. For years they have spoken of a beige animal with large ears, one to 1.5 metres tall, that stands by the roadside and then hops away. The sightings were all reported in the Mayama mountain district of Osaki city in Miyagi prefecture, a community of 441 households, located about 350 kilometres north of Tokyo

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

When I lived in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, in the 1970s, we had a phantom kangaroo infestation.

Various people saw them, including deputy sherriffs & school bus drivers, both of whom often saw deer & rabbits in the early monring, & so would not be fooled.

Several years ago, a wallaby was struck & killed by a truck in northern Wisconsin, & the body recovered.

Could there be a breeding-sized population?

[bup]

Great column. I can't believe that in 1974 the Trib was still trying Teddy-Roosevelt-era 'modernizations' of spelling, or that people bought a story that involved cops forgetting to get a person's name and phone number, but finding the kangaroo. And then trying to handcuff it. I mean, those Sylvester cartoons where he mistakes a kangaroo for a giant mouse existed - they must have seen those.

[virtualchuck]

I think that Phantom Roo's offspring may still be terrorizing the good people of South Bend Indiana to this day!

torporindy.blogspot.com/.../kangaroo-on-loose-near-indiana-airport.html

[Sgt Rod]

A phantom kangaroo purportedly roaming the streets of Chicago was a
running gag in an episode of ER (season 3, episode 3: Don't Ask, Don't Tell).
The final scene even showed the animal sifting through garbage in alley
near the hospital.