Hood County officials capture loose kangaroo

The Hood County sheriff’s department received an unusual call Wednesday morning: A kangaroo was spotted hopping along Marigold Court, a gravel road north of Granbury.

“Sure enough, it was there,” said Lt. Johnny Rose, who supervises the department’s criminal investigation division. “It was a tame kangaroo.”

“Lucy” had escaped a nearby home.

When three deputies found her standing in the road, they slipped a purple leash around her neck and then hauled her away in an animal control vehicle.

“It didn’t run, and didn’t try to attack them,” Rose said. “They were able to walk up to it. Everything just went pretty good.”

After the Hood County News posted Lucy’s picture on Facebook, her owners came forward, happy to reclaim a family pet.

“The owner said it belonged to their daughter and that they got it from a family member in Wisconsin,” Rose said.

This wasn’t the first time Hood County officials dealt with an exotic animal.

On New Year’s Day, a zebra escaped an owner’s yard south of Granbury and was spotted hopping fences off Texas 144. County deputies worked that call, too, eventually cornering the zebra in a fenced-off area.

“We just played it by ear,” Rose said. “That’s not something you deal with, training with zebras and kangaroos.”

A Hood County ordinance prohibits dangerous exotic animals, like tigers and gorillas, but zebras and kangaroos are legal, Rose said.

This story was originally published February 11, 2016 at 9:52 AM with the headline "Hood County officials capture loose kangaroo."