Buddy the wayward wallaby reclaimed by owner after escape from his home

KEY CENTER, Wash. – Knock, knock. Who’s there? A friendly wallaby.

That’s what Sgt. Ted Jackson, of the Washington state Department of Fish and Wildlife, says happened to a family moving into a home on the Key Peninsula west of Tacoma last weekend.

The marsupial, native to Australia and similar to a kangaroo but smaller, was discovered by a member of the family outside the rear door last Friday evening.

“It was just tapping on the back door,” Jackson said Wednesday. “We’re real curious where it came from.”

Well, now they know.

Candace Egger went to the Humane Society of Pierce County on Thursday to claim her pet – named Buddy – which managed to escape from a fenced enclosure last week.

“I was so devastated,” Egger told KING-TV of Seattle. “I’ve been walking all night every night.”

She said she’ll be reinforcing the fence to keep Buddy home.

Humane Society spokeswoman Marguerite Richmond said Buddy was comfortable in captivity.

“He just cuddles right up to you,” Richmond said.

Buddy fed on timothy hay and carrots while in lockup.

If his owner had not showed up, the Humane Society had planned to arrange permanent quarters for the wallaby at a sanctuary in Redmond, east of Seattle.

“It’s not our policy to adopt out wallabies, or any other exotic species,” Richmond said.