OK, yeah. I know. It’s been a while. I can’t make excuses, other than to say that running a family and career takes almost all my time these days.
Anyhow, something happened this morning that is worthy of recording for posterity. Mrs BWM left for the early shift at work. About half a mile from the house she came across the body of a dead animal by the side of the road.
Now, roadkill deer are pretty common in these parts, mostly Muntjac and Chinese Water Deer, and you quickly get used to them. But Mrs BWM has obviously picked up some of my roadkill obsession because she had a good look as she drove past.
And it wasn’t a deer. It had a big long tail. And little short front legs. In her words “there’s a bl**dy dead kangaroo on the road!” She’s a great wife and she snapped a pic with her phone.
Bedfordshire Wallaby
Yup – it’s a dead kangaroo. Actually, I’m no expert, but I’m guessing it’s a wallaby. I’m also guessing that it’s an escapee from the nearby safari park. There’s a rumour that there are a fair number of them living wild in the local area. This isn’t so far-fetched – there are a number of naturalised wallaby colonies in the UK, and frankly so many species have escaped from Woburn over the years and become naturalised (from Muntjac to Wels catfish) that one more isn’t surprising.
Mind you, if there were more of these in the area then I’d have expected to either have seen one or heard about them. If wallabies are hopping across the main road like this one did (albeit unsuccessfully) then you’d think more people would notice. As it is, there is someone in Bedfordshire now who is trying to explain that they got the dent in their car from crashing into a kangaroo last night…
Tales from the Wood - The Diary of a Badger Watching Man 
Good to hear from you.I have seen 2 dead badgers here in Send Surrey recently
Welcome back. You have been missed. I went badger watching last night and saw a badger for the first time in a long time. You know you miss that adrenaline rush when a suddenly a black and white face appears in the gloaming.
Nice to see you back again BWM. I was begining to think you had befallen the same fate as the Wallaby!
There was until recently a colony of Bennets Red necked Wallaby near where I live in the Peak District.
Back in the 70s when the colony was at its peak, a few got run over on the roads nearby. Its believed they are all gone now though, having escaped from a private zoo during the second world war.
I’m new to your page – thought you were a myth – I’m busy trying to snap pictures of badgers from a sett due to be moved to an artificial sett before development – guess what – not a sausage – not even a badger –
I saw a wallaby hopping across the road yesterday in Bedforshire. I thought I was going mad….it would seem, not yet!
Hi I’ve just seen this thread after a quick google of Kangaroo in Woburn.. As tonight while out on my mountain bike through the woods I came across a live Kangaroo walking along a path way..
Hi Chris – thanks for the comment. At least I can offer some reassurance that you weren’t seeing things…
I’ve uncovered a handful of other sighting reports of wallabies in the area, so it seems that they’re out there. I’d love to see one myself, but no luck yet, despite many, many hours of walking and driving around. I think you can count yourself privileged!
All the best
BWM