UPSHUR COUNTY, TX (KLTV) -
An unusual pet has escaped his home and is hopping around somewhere in East Texas.
The pet's owners are asking for your help in finding their wandering wallaby. They say the animal looks like a small kangaroo and was last seen near his home in Gilmer.
"You're not crazy if you think you've seen a kangaroo, we are missing one," says Tammy Meritt, owner of the missing wallaby.
The family's four-year-old wallaby, Hamilton, is missing.
"They're kind of like a miniature kangaroo, they come up to about your waist," Meritt says.
The Meritt's got Hamilton at a hunting show where wallabies were being sold as pets, "He's a real novelty out here and people like to see him and he's got a really neat pen."
Hamilton somehow escaped his backyard home even though the gates to his pen were closed.
"We're not sure if maybe he got spooked really badly and just finally jumped high enough to get over the fence because sometimes there's coyotes and stuff in the area ... Maybe he saw a woman, a woman wallaby, I don't know."
The family says Hamilton is not dangerous and loves women and children, "If you smell really good he likes to grab onto your arm and just kind of holds on. We always say the more he likes you he'll kick you a little bit."
Hamilton went missing on Friday. Several phone calls of kangaroo sightings have not led to finding Hamilton.
The Meritt's say there is still a tiny hope he will smell his way home.
"We just really, we miss him, very much."
Home, where the wallaby's food, water, and best friend are waiting for his return.
Hamilton was last seen hopping down a Gilmer road being chased by some dogs.
If you see this animal, the Meritt family asks you to contact them at 903-261-4880.
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Hamilton
Hamilton seen along FM 2685.
Hamilton seen along FM 2685.
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