#OddlyLeggy: Unpredictable And Unruly, But Cute!

No Carrots Please, We Are Kangaroos

Be careful with what you feed animals or else they bite back, says a report.

Kangaroos are one of Australia’s biggest tourist draws, but visitors to one park are getting more than they bargained for.

Tourists in Lake Macquarie are ignoring warnings and feeding carrots to kangaroos who become aggressive at the sight of their favourite sugary snack, a tour operator said.

Each week thousands of people flock to see the kangaroos on grassy slopes near a psychiatric hospital, enticed by travel blogs promising “adorable wild kangaroos” that are “tame enough to get close to and take photos with”, says  a Reuters report.

Carrots in hand, the tourists approach the kangaroos, seeking a selfie with an Australian symbol that graces the country’s coat of arms.It doesn’t always end well.

A photo posted by a tour operator on Facebook showed a kangaroo leaping up to kick a tourist with its powerful legs. Other photos showed a woman with a scratched face and a man with a bloody gouge in his stomach.

A kangaroo’s natural diet is mostly grass, so the sugar in carrots can make it hard to effectively absorb nutrients and lead to a “slow and painful death”.

Cat’s Out Of The Bag For Family

You can never predict anything in the animal kingdom as was the case of two kittens in the US, says a report.

With big blues eyes and stubby tails, two kittens taken in by a San Antonio family looked adorable until the fiery seven-week-old felines ripped apart formula bottles and repeatedly bit the hands that were trying to feed them, says a Reuters report.

The family told authorities they thought the kittens were the rare and prized domestic breed of Bengal cats. But the tiny felines were actually wild bobcats that were surrendered to a shelter this week, and officials said the family was under investigation for possibly violating Texas wildlife laws.

“Bengal kittens look like house cats. They do not look like wild cats,” a San Antonio Animal Care Services (ACS) spokeswoman said, adding the two species are rarely confused for the other.

The family initially told ACS workers that they discovered the cubs abandoned in an alleyway. Later, they confessed that the kittens were found by a relative in a nearby rural county and then brought to San Antonio.

The search is on for the cubs’ mother because if she cannot be found, the pair may never be able to return to the wild.

Dog Shoots Owner By Mistake

With best friends like these, who needs enemies?

An Iowa man says his dog inadvertently shot him while they were roughhousing, according to an AP report.

Fifty-one-year-old Richard Remme, of Fort Dodge, told police he was playing with his dog, Balew, on the couch and tossed the dog off his lap. He says when the pit bull-Labrador mix bounded back up, he must have disabled the safety on the gun in his belly band and stepped on the trigger.

The gun fired, striking one of Remme’s legs. He was treated at a hospital and released later that day.

Remme told The Messenger newspaper that Balew is a “big wuss” and lay down beside him and cried because he thought he had done something wrong.

Stinking Dog Finds Way Home

A dog fell into muck is back home stinking to high heavens, says a report.

The two-year-old English mastiff led astray by an escape-prone hound dog is happy to be home, but still stinks after being found stranded in muck at a wastewater treatment plant in Colorado, according to AP.

Gidget’s ordeal started when a walker coonhound named Buddy helped her escape from their house in Pueblo West. The hound later came home wet and muddy, without his partner-in-crime.

The dog was found on the edge of an aeration pond.  Fire crews used a ladder to get down to Gidget. They hosed her off and turned her over to Pueblo Animal Services, where she got two decontamination baths at the shelter before being returned to her owners.

Both escapees were smothered with love…and shampoo. “They have gotten so many baths and they still smell,” a rescuer said. “The poor bulldog is keeping her distance.”

Hungry Bear Snacks at A Home

A bear who was hungry just walked into a home and helped himself, says a report.

The bear broke into a California home and snacked on bread and fruit before sheriff’s deputies were able to chase it away.

Bears are coming out of hibernation and deputies say this particular bear broke into a house at Northstar, North Lake Tahoe for groceries.

The homeowners called for help. In a video, the bear can be seen on a kitchen island.

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