I pet a friggin’ kangaroo

I did something this past weekend that I didn’t even know I wanted to do. Until I had the opportunity to, that is. You might have guessed it, if you read this far.

Last Friday after work, a friend and I ventured to the faraway land of Illinois, against rush hour traffic, truckers, persistent rain and asinine gas prices. All so we could go see some critters at the Aikman Wildlife Adventure in Arcola.

We’ve pet wolves before (amazing experience. Everyone should do it.), and when we heard about this place, we knew we had to go. Hyenas, emus, horses, deer, rabbits, llamas including one named Derek, free-roaming peacocks, even a pair of camels named Fabio and Randy reside there.

We did it all, walked the trail, pet and fed some goats, even took a wagon ride around the park to see the bigger creatures and feed them, too. I watched as a mom and dad seated next to me held their young daughters, showing them all the wild around them.

The mom spoke of a resident she’d met before named Ziggy. Turned out Ziggy was a zedonk: the result of a zebra and a donkey...you know. How cool is that?! The zedonk, not the other thing. I’m digging myself into a hole here, aren’t I?

After the wagon ride, we headed to the aptly-named Watering Hole. It wasn’t as hot as it has been this week, but we all know that any time out in the Indiana summer heat calls for something cold. For us, it was ice cream: a chocolate shake and a root beer float.

Then, we paid our dues and got a private session with all kinds of furry friends. We did have the opportunity to check out some scaly ones, but either of us were too keen on that idea.

First, we pet a sugar glider, a hedgehog and a Netherland dwarf rabbit. If you don’t know what a sugar glider is, think smaller flying squirrel but cuter.

Then, we moved on to the mob. Yes, a group of kangaroos is called a mob. There was even one named Scarface. Yeah, I know.

Two of the kangaroos, Leonidas and Scarface, were not to be touched as they didn’t care for it much. But you best bet we pet the ones we could. And let me tell you, those things are way softer than you think they are.

So, that’s how I crossed something off my bucket list without ever realizing it was on there. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be near a kangaroo, let alone pet one.

When it comes to stuff like this, I’m usually the one behind the camera. I was for most of this trip, actually. But my friend thankfully snapped some of me, and only one of these am I willing to put in print.