OOPA: UK wallaby sighting delights and surprises

Well I’ll be! A wallaby who hopped its way down a farm track in Pluckley is now set to become a YouTube hit, according to Kent Online.A 14-second film clip was taken by village resident Alex Pooley who caught the cheeky creature on camera as she walked her dog Shackleton, two.
The 29-year-old said: “We were in a field near the train station and I saw what I thought was a giant hare, but then it moved and started hopping.

“I was a bit surprised to say the least and the dog was off the lead at the time and he went off to investigate. They ran around for a couple of minutes and then he came back and I put him on the lead.
“Then I saw it hopping down the path towards us. It seemed pretty friendly and quite intrigued because it came right up to us.”
Grabbing her mobile phone, teacher Alex managed to film the animal before it once again hopped off.
Wallabies are generally found in Australia though have been spotted in the UK including areas of Devon and East Sussex.
In 2009 a ghost hunting trip to Pluckley that ended up with a family being spooked by a wallaby (pictured above).

Mum Mandy Page took daughters Sophie and Lauren for a bit of spirit spotting in November. But instead of a headless horseman, they found a wallaby staring back at them.
The month before that, commuter Ula Griggs encountered a wallaby crossing the road. The stunned motorist saw it bounce across at Bell Lane, just outside Pluckley.
In 2005 a wallaby (pictured left) was hit by motorist Kate Scorey at the Texaco garage, A20 outside Lenham as she was driving home in the dark.
In September 2008, a wallaby was spotted on Magpie Hall Road in Stubbs Cross. It was believed to be Wesley, a wallaby that had escaped from a farm eight years before and was frequently glimpsed around the area.
The creatures have a life expectancy of about 18 years.