Have You Ever Held a Baby Kangaroo?

You may recognize this photo; it’s been the profile avatar for all my social media for going on two years now. The photo was taken during our first week in new town. Amid the stress of trying to locate and purchase a house, our real estate agent asked if we wanted to hold a baby kangaroo. And honestly, who wouldn’t? She told us about an animal farm located not far from our new home and run solely on donations.

(Also my husband, he’s kinda cute too.)

We’ve probably visited half a dozen times by now. It’s a fabulous little get-away, especially if you go in the morning when the animals are still active (it can get pretty hot in the afternoons here, though the farm closes briefly in the afternoon for the animals to nap). It’s kind of like a petting zoo, but not really. Most of the animals roam freely (though some are kept in enclosures), and most will accept food from your hand as long as you approach in a reasonable manner. A duck once followed my husband halfway across the yard just to get a piece of tortilla from him (he ran out so I fed it instead).

Every time we have visitors, we take them to the farm. So everyone who visits us has a story about that place. It’s fantastic because we encounter different animals every time. Last time our in-laws visited, they had baby emus and boy did they motor across their enclosure! They’re adorable. Once we encountered a brave little girl who was terrified of chickens, but braved being near one to hold a baby kangaroo.

(Baby Emu!)

You really can hold baby kangaroos there, by the way. The farm keeps them in little pouches once they reach a certain age. As explained on their website, they do this to acclimate their kangaroos to humans, because it can be quite difficult to provide medical care for them if they’re not accustomed to human contact from a young age. This also allows the guests to feed and pet the kangaroos. We have fed a few that didn’t yet have their eyes fully opened!

(He’s not just closing his eyes, they aren’t yet fully open.)

We only encountered one grumpy young kangaroo, but the staff have a little ‘time out’ area for the animals that get too overwhelmed to be around people, giving them a bit of a break. All the animals are pretty nice, except for the turkey… that guy is a jerk.

(He struts. You can’t pet him, he won’t let you, and he always antagonizes the ducks.)

The parrots are always pretty interesting and the capybaras are also quite popular. I could watch the goats for hours. But my favorite are the sugar gliders. Those are the little dudes in the picture at the top. They’re kind of like flying squirrels. We’ve seen a few of them go leaping from patron to patron and it’s quite a site! Once, I didn’t realize I’d left my purse open after pulling out my camera and a sugar glider bee-lined straight into it! (Perhaps because the handler also keeps them in pouches when they’re resting.)

(Capybaras are friend-shaped.)

We’ve got some visitors coming this summer and we’re looking forward to taking them all back for another visit. If nothing else, it will result in tons more cute pictures!