In my hometown of Alamo, Tennessee, there is an exotic animal park. When I was growing up, one of the local farmers had several buffalo. These were a rare sight in West Tennessee. The farm where they were located was on a major highway near town. They were always something to keep an eye out for when travelling down this highway. Over the years, he added more different animals to his collection and later opened a drive thru park that has become a tourist attraction for the area.
My father was the fire chief for the city of Alamo for several years and served in that capacity when the animal park opened. He his Emergency radio that he used for fire calls also picked up any police calls. One night after the park opened, he heard a report on his radio that the kangaroo had escaped. There was no need for the fire department to respond to this call but he followed the reports because, well, it’s a kangaroo on the loose. How often do you have a kangaroo loose in your town?
The safari park is located beside a four-lane highway just outside of Alamo. The town is on the other side of the highway. The kangaroo had made its way into town. My dad found out about this when he heard one of the police officers report, “The kangaroo is on the north side of Koonce Street!!” Koonce Street is inside the city limits in a neighborhood on the side of town closest to the safari park. A few minutes later, there was another report. “The kangaroo is on the SOUTH side of Koonce Street!!” Soon after that came another report. “The kangaroo is on the NORTH side of Koonce Street!!” Every few minutes there was a new report about the kangaroo swapping sides of Koonce Street.
Soon the reports changed when the kangaroo attempted to return to the safari park, only to be hit by a car when crossing the four-lane highway. That was went the fire department was called out to assist with the wreck.