by John Jefferson

No, it’s neither Sci-fi nor alcohol-induced fantasy. Mixing printers’ ink and strong spirits became self- forbidden in the Seventies. They just really didn’t mix well.

THIS KANGAROO WAS PHOTOGRAPHED shortly after a severe thunderstorm in Elmendorf, Texas. Sometime frightened animals break away from pens or other impoundments during violent storms. (Photo courtesy of Elmendorf Police Department)

When my copy of the vaunted Wilson County News arrived last Thursday, I was taken by two front page stories — one about tree bark being shredded off a tree in a mysterious fashion and another about a kangaroo on the loose in the neighboring town of Elmendorf, in Bexar County.

My first thought was to check the calendar. Nope, it wasn’t April Fools’ Day. But they both seemed to have occurred during a week of recurring thunderstorms. Could the weather have had a hand — or a sneeze — that caused both.

My charming little cross between an English Labrador retriever and a honey badger, the self-appointed chief of security around our casa, had been known to challenge dogs twice his size. And door-to- door salespeople learned to stand safely back after ringing our doorbell. He seemed to fear nothing … except thunderstorms.

He joined us closely in bed, shivering, each time it thundered. Could the storms have played a part?

Maybe.

Weather experts stated that lightning striking a tree could flash down the tree to the roots and strip bark as it went. And wildlife authorities said the stripping would have to have been done by a large animal like a mountain lion, but they aren’t known to strip bark.

But then, there was that kangaroo. Where does it fit in?

Animals sometimes get crazy during storms. Most of my knowledge of kangaroos came from either the movie, “Crocodile Dundee” or “Winnie the Pooh,” so what do I know!

Well, I at least know from my own studies and help from many patient wildlife biologists that kangaroos are not native to this country.

They’re native to “S’tralia, Mate,” as Mr. Dundee might say. Wildlife from other continents were released into Texas, beginning in about 1939, for the purpose of hunting, but I’ve never heard that kangaroos were part of that.

I did, though, find an account of an April 2026 kangaroo sighting between Abilene and Lipan by a coffee truck owner who had vehicle trouble along the highway.

That’s in Northwest Texas, a long way from Elmendorf, so I can’t think it was the same kangy seen in South Texas just a few weeks later. The coffee truck owner said it “hopped around for a few minutes” and then disappeared into the brush. It didn’t sound dangerous, and I suspect it was someone’s exotic pet. Texas allows people to own most exotic pets, but a permit is required. Elmendorf allows kangaroos, but San Antonio, also in Bexar County, prohibits them.

I contacted the Elmendorf Police Chief, Marco Peña, for permission to use the image. An officer took the picture. Chief Peña agreed and sent me the accompanying image. He said a second kangaroo had also been seen nearby, but he thought it was a different one.

Hmm; I wonder if they are of different genders.

JJ