Kangaroos Hitching a Ride

This photograph was sent to me from friends during the recent evacuation of Theodore, a small country town in Queensland, Australia, which felt the full brunt of the recent floods. It touched my heart, and I’m sure animals (even wild animals), know when we are trying to help them.

Animal losses were high during the recent Queensland floods with farmers losing livestock, many domestic pets perished in the floods and wild animals were no exception – many got washed away and drowned because they couldn't escape to higher, safer ground – but these guys got lucky.

Kangaroos are known to be strong swimmers - they swim by moving their legs independently of each other - something that they can't do on land!
However, it's not known how long these guys had been in the flood waters when their knight in shining armour arrived to save them! They would have probably been quite tired by the time he came on the scene.

Under normal circumstances a kangaroo would take a swipe at a human and could easily tear him to pieces with his long, strong claws. The feet and tail are even more powerful and dangerous.

So you can imagine how hard it would be to get wild kangaroos into, and then sit, in a boat under normal circumstances . . . this is not a sight you will see often . . . but then, these were not normal circumstances.
These 'roos willingly accepted human help and were quite happy to hitch a ride to dry land.  They were no doubt exhausted by their plight and too tired to struggle when being rescued.
Better than the alternative. 

I think even wild animals recognize when a human is trying to help them.