Missouri Mystery Kangaroos

Posted by: Loren Coleman on April 14th, 2012

Reports of cryptid or mystery kangaroos in the Midwest, especially during the classic flap of the 1970s, are chronicled, in depth, in my Mysterious America.

Of course, other Mystery Kangaroo reports from past years on Cryptomundo can be found from AustriaWisconsin, and Minnesota. Or who can forget the “Killer Kangaroos” of Tennessee from 1934?

There’s been a new report, and the local law enforcement authorities are trying to bury it quickly.

“On Tuesday [April 10, 2012], Palmyra [Missouri] police received a call from someone claiming to have spotted what appeared to be kangaroos hopping around a street a few blocks from U.S. 61. Two city officers and two Marion County deputies searched the area, but found no trace of any exotic animals – especially those native to Australia. Police Chief Eddie Bogue has a working theory regarding what might have been mistaken as kangaroos.

“‘There were four deer that were seen by a city employee close to the same area. They were apparently pretty scared from being out of their element with all the traffic and commotion of town, and they were trying to find a way out of town,’ he said. ‘I think what probably happened is some young person saw that and, I don’t know, maybe it looked like a kangaroo for a moment. If you see a picture of a deer’s head from the bust up, you could maybe liken it to a kangaroo.'” Source.

Loren Coleman About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct). Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015. Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.


10 Responses to “Missouri Mystery Kangaroos”

  1. David-Australia responds:

    Yeah, we get kangaroos in Australia also…..

    One thing I learned is if it’s a wet, stormy night, you’re in your hiking tent in a public campground where there are semi-habituated kangaroos around (as there invariably is) on the scrounge for food, and you need to pee, don’t be lazy and do so under the fly of your tent as you will have several of them poking their noses underneath to get at and lick the salty taste – several whacks on the snout do not seem to deter them permanently. Probably also explains why I have sometimes seen them bounding along an ocean beach and plunging briefly into the surf.

  2. Ragnar responds:

    People want to laugh and joke about sightings, but I’ve seen a kangaroo in Missouri.

    I was stationed at Scott AFB from ’86-92 and used to visit my aunt’s farm near Owensville, MO on the weekends. One day heading back to St Louis in the eastbound lane of I-64 I swear I saw a kangaroo on the side of the highway, not quite in the trees. Probably 3-4 feet tall and tannish in color. Yeah, I’m a city boy, but I spent a lot of time on my aunt’s farm and hunting and fishing. I know what deer look like. And cows. And pigs. etc. And it was a roo. I told my story and everyone had a good laugh, but it turns out there really was a kangaroo on the loose. It had escaped from its pen at some guy’s farm/ranch/game park/museum/tourist trap.

  3. Hapa responds:

    Why is it that when something unusual is seen, skeptics try to explain it away half-rear? Saying that people mistook everyday Deer for kangaroos is almost as bad as saying that the people of Point Pleasant, West Virginia, mistook a common Barn Owl (repeat: COMMON) for a man-sized sinister Mothman.

    What’s next? All Nessie witnesses mistook a TROUT for a PLESIOSAUR?
    Has every bigfoot witness mistook SQUIRRELS for Giant Bipedal apes?
    What about Sea Urchins for Sea Serpents?

  4. AreWeThereYeti responds:

    I’m surprised no one has figured-out the real culprits, here. Kangaroos? Bah! Please, people, let’s not go around tossing-out crazy speculations when a perfectly logical candidate exists – and I’m not talking about “deer” either – everyone knows THEY don’t exist! Clearly it was the Easter Bunny taking some well-deserved R&R with a couple friends. End of story. 😉

  5. Travis Vaughn responds:

    The 1934 Tennessee “kangaroos” were in Marion County, Tennessee (South Pittsburg area).

    These Missouri ‘roos were in Marion County, Missouri.

    There’s some potential twilight language for you, Loren.

  6. Loren Coleman responds:

    Thank you, Travis, for beginning this to everyone’s attention, regarding the kangaroo “name game” linkages for “Marion.”

    I suggest anyone who knows of any ‘roo, or for that matter, any cryptid reports for any of the many places named after, humm, the Swamp Fox, should forward them. If you all thought there was a lot of Fayettes, Lafayettes, and Fayettevilles, well, take a look at this.

    List of places named for Francis Marion

    This is a list of places named after Francis Marion, a Brigadier General from South Carolina in the American Revolutionary War. He had more places named after him than any other Revolutionary War soldier, with the exception of George Washington.

    Francis Marion National Forest, South Carolina
    Fort Marion (Modern Day Castillo de San Marcos Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine, FL)
    Francis Marion Military Academy, Ocala, Florida
    Francis Marion University, Florence, South Carolina
    Francis Marion Intermediate School, Marion, Iowa
    Francis Marion High School, Marion, Alabama
    Marion, Alabama
    Marion, Arkansas
    Marion, Connecticut
    Marion, Idaho
    Marion, Illinois
    Marion, Indiana
    Marion, Iowa
    Marion, Louisiana
    Marion, Kentucky
    Marion, Maine
    Marion Station, Maryland
    Marion, Massachusetts
    Marion, Michigan
    Marion, Minnesota
    Marion, Mississippi
    Marionville, Missouri
    Marion, Montana
    Marion, Nebraska
    Marion, New Jersey
    East Marion, New York
    Marion, New York
    Mount Marion, New York
    Marion, North Carolina
    Marion, North Dakota
    Marion, Ohio
    Marion, Oregon
    Marion Center, Pennsylvania
    Marion, Pennsylvania
    Marion Heights, Pennsylvania
    Point Marion, Pennsylvania
    Marion, South Carolina
    Marion, South Dakota
    Marion, Virginia
    Marion, Wisconsin
    Marion County, Alabama
    Marion County, Arkansas
    Marion County, Florida
    Marion County, Georgia
    Marion County, Illinois
    Marion County, Indiana
    Marion County, Iowa
    Marion County, Kentucky
    Marion County, Mississippi
    Marion County, Missouri
    Marion County, Ohio
    Marion County, Oregon
    Marion County, South Carolina
    Marion County, Tennessee
    Marion County, Texas
    Marion County, West Virginia
    Marion Park, Washington, DC
    Marion Square, Charleston, South Carolina
    Marion Township, Arkansas
    Marion Township, Michigan (5 different counties have a Marion Township)
    Marion Township, Pennsylvania (4 different counties have a Marion Township)
    Francis Marion Hotel, Charleston, South Carolina
    Swamp Fox Roller Coaster, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
    Swamp Fox Hotel, now called Compass Cove, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
    Swamp Fox HWY, running from Tabor City, NC to Pireway, NC
    Lake Marion, South Carolina
    Marion Lake, Minnesota
    Marion Lake, Oregon
    (Note that Marion County, Kansas was not named directly after General Francis Marion, but from Marion County, Ohio, and therefore indirectly named after him.

  7. Hapa responds:

    AreWeThereYeti

    Are you saying that escaped exotic animals are as likely as the Easter Bunny?

  8. AreWeThereYeti responds:

    @ Hapa:

    Just havin’ a little fun. But, if you insist in pinning me down, then I’m saying, “Happy Easter!”
    No more, no less. 😉

  9. Hapa responds:

    Ah, okay. Just do’t be dissing the Easter Bunny now: I love them Cadbury eggs!

  10. whiteriverfisherman responds:

    It is not farfetched to accept that there could be a small breeding population of roos running around in the Midwest. I bet if you look at the climate and food sources they are very similar to the climate and food sources found in their native Australia. I find it hard to believe that someone would confuse another animal for a roo. I live in Indiana and there have been sightings here as well. The population probably started the same way ferrell pigs did. Some escaped and took the wild. When I hear about these sightings I don’t dismiss them due the likely hood that they could very well live in the wild here. What is odd about the alleged roos is that they tend to prefer the word Marion in the name of the places like to hang out. I cannot explain that one. I can say that the Indianapolis zoo in located in Marion county Indiana, whatever that’s worth.

Sorry. Comments have been closed.

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