Moira Rose Donohue - Kangaroo to the Rescue!: And More True Stories of Amazing Animal Heroes

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Lulu takes a break from hopping to stretch out in the sun. ()

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L uke Richards and his friends were driving home late one evening.

Watch out! one of the boys yelled. Theres something in the road!

Squee!! The driver hit the brakes and swerved. He avoided hitting the lump in the road.

Pull over, mate, Luke said. He wanted to move whatever was in the road out of the way. Luke hopped out of the car.

The lump turned out to be a dead kangaroo. That would be a shock if you lived in the United States. But Luke lived in Australia. Millions of kangaroos live there, too. Unfortunately, sometimes they wander into the road in front of cars and trucks.

Luke was sad to see the kangaroo, but he knew he had to move it out of the way. He grabbed the animal by the tail and dragged it to the side of the road. It was heavy. Full-grown eastern gray kangaroos, or roos, as they say in Australia, weigh about 145 pounds (66 kg).

Then Luke saw something amazing. The kangaroos belly twitched. Kangaroos are a kind of mammal known as marsupials (sounds like mar-SOO-pee-ulz). Females have a pouch across their bellies. Thats where they keep their babies, called joeys (sounds like JOE-eez). Luke put his hand in the pouch. Gently, he removed a joey. It had survived the accident!

Luke didnt think his parents would be happy if he brought the joey home. But he looked into the animals frightened eyes. He just couldnt leave the little roo behind.

The joey was about the size of a cat. Luke wrapped it in his sweater. He climbed back into the car.

When he got home, Luke tiptoed into the house. He didnt want to wake his parents. He got some newspapers and covered the floor of his room. He offered the joey some water. Then he tucked the little roo snugly into his sweater. He draped the sweater over his bedpost. He hoped it would feel like the mothers pouch. Within minutes, both he and the joey were asleep.

Did You Know?

When its born, a baby kangaroo is hairless. It takes several months before its fur grows in.

The next morning, Lukes mother, Lynn, opened the door to his bedroom. It was a mess. She frowned. Luke? she called in a voice that said he was in trouble. Luke sat up. And like bread in a toaster, the joey popped up, too.

Ive got a little friend, mum, said Luke.

So I see, his mother sputtered.

Lukes family lived on a small farm. It was about 90 miles (145 km) west of the city of Melbourne. The farm was surrounded by land that was covered with wild plants and trees. This is known as the bush in Australia. Animals from the bush often wandered onto the farm. Sometimes Luke and his sister, Celeste, would find an injured one.

They brought home a lot of king parrots that were hurt, said their father, Len. Once Luke and Celeste found a wounded opossum. They even rescued a wombat. They brought them to their father. He showed them how to nurse the animals.