|
| |
|
Which way, wee wallaby?
WALTERVILLE - Maybe Xander knew Willow was on her way? Maybe he knew he would be battling his new baby sister for attention? |
Maybe he hopped off to meet the Easter Bunny? And what in the world is a wandering, wayward wallaby anyway? And which way did he go?
So many questions. And so few answers to the mystery of Xander's disappearance six days ago from the 13-acre farm on Camp Creek Road, where his owners, John and Barbara Theus, operate the McKenzie Valley Bamboo nursery.
The Theuses left Xander, a 45-pound, 16-month-old wallaby, alone in his pen on Thursday between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. That's the day they drove to Redmond to buy their second wallaby, 3-week-old Willow, who never got to meet her new brother.
The couple is offering a $1,000 reward if anyone finds Xander and brings him home.
And in case you didn't know, or forgot, a wallaby is a miniature kangaroo native to Australia and New Zealand. And, yes, they do hop, so you would probably know whether you witnessed a wallaby wherever you, yourself, wander - whether that's here in Walterville or way over in Walton. And if you don't think a wallaby could make it from Walterville to Walton, just west of Noti, in six days, then you don't know diddly squat about wallabies. They can sprint up to 40 mph, according to the Theuses.
That means Xander not only could have made it to Walton by now, but maybe even to Florence. Or beyond.
"We can't figure out what would have happened," said Barbara Theus, who moved to Walterville from Portland with her husband in July 2004 to relocate their nursery.
The couple reported Xander missing to the Lane County Sheriff's Office and Lane County Animal Control on Thursday, and searched their property and the surrounding area before giving up late Saturday.
They think it's unlikely that someone stole the marsupial who, although a little shy, would often hop over and let visitors pet him.
"He's afraid of vehicles, so it's not likely he went to the road," John Theus said. The most likely scenario, the Theuses believe, is that Xander hopped over the 3-foot-high fence of his pen, although they had never seen him do that, and hightailed it up a little ridge behind their house to the Walterville Canal. Although wallabies can swim, they think it's unlikely he'd jump into the slow-moving canal.
However, Eugene Water and Electric Board workers at the Walterville Power Station just west of the Theuses' spread, say deer have been known to fall into the canal. Once there, they often drown as they're swept into the power station's screens that sit in the water to keep logs and debris from sweeping down the waterway.
"We've told them, even though it would be sad, please tell us if you find him (in the canal)," said Barbara
Theus, who added: "As gruesome as it would be, I was actually thinking maybe an animal got in and ate him. But you'd think there'd have been a tail (left)," she said, referring to the wallaby's long, ratlike tail that a dog or cougar would probably not digest.
The Theuses named Xander and Willow after characters on one of their favorite TV shows - "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" - as they often do with their animals.
The couple got Xander in January 2005 from a petting zoo in Arlington, Wash., about an hour north of Seattle.
Wallabies cost $1,200 to $1,600 John Theus said.
The latter price is what they paid for Willow last week in Redmond, only for the marsupial to discover that her new sibling - whose favorite meal was a bowl of Happy Hopper wallaby chow, straight from its Missouri manufacturer - was missing.
No one has seen hide nor hair of him.
"No, we would definitely know if we found a wallaby," said a dispatcher at Lane County Animal Control, who said she knew of only one prior missing wallaby case, in Eugene's Ferry Street Bridge neighborhood years ago. That story ended happily when not one, but two, wallabies hopped their way home, she said.
"I'd be really surprised if I saw a missing wallaby," said Mary Westrope, who was working Tuesday at the McKenzie River Nursery tent in the Select Market parking lot on Highway 126. "I'll keep my eyes peeled. I didn't know anybody around here had a wallaby," she said, laughing.
posted by unique
| | [by Team (register guard) ] [0 comments]
|
You have to be logged in to comment. | |
| AD | 
|
| |
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, its characters, and the Buffy logo are the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, the WB Television Network, and Twentieth Century Fox. Angel-The Series, its characters, and the Buffy logo are the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, the WB Television Network, and Twentieth Century Fox.Other Series, their characters and logos are property of the proper right owners.
(c)Slayerverse 2006 [Imprint] |
