Hopping Mad1

**Waldo** · 12-11-2007, 02:49 PM

A kangaroo got police and residents hopping mad after it went on the run in Australia.

The animal escaped attempts to catch it with a net and stopped traffic as it ran amok around Melbourne.

A young boy caught up in the drama was knocked down by the hopping kangaroo and was said to be lucky that he was not seriously injured.

The Eastern Grey's powerful claws also tore a policeman's shirt to shreds in a rescue attempt that was captured on camera, but still the chase continued.

Suburban streets were closed and one local resident said: "He's just jumping around, he jumped in my mate's back yard."

But police and wildlife workers stayed on its tail and came up with a cunning plan.

Rescuer Narelle Smith said: "Pretty much when the kangaroo comes towards us and hits the net we'll pull it over, keep it tucked in drop right down to keep the hold."

Finally following another near miss, the runaway kangaroo was caught.
Ms Smith added: "Normally they're a lot more straight forward than this one. He gave us a run for our money, but thankfully we won in the end."

The rogue kangaroo was then returned to its nearby natural habitat.

and I thought squirrels and foxes were a pain!