A woman woke up to find an unexpected visitor from down under hopping around her garden.
Jan Cooper was having a coffee when she spotted a three-foot high sandy coloured wallaby at her home in Lyme Regis, Dorset, just after 7am.
She called the RSPCA and police but the marsupial fled leaping over a neighbouring fence after about 90 minutes of bounding between flower beds in her garden.
It is unclear where the animal came from but the RSPCA said a number of them live wild in the UK. The charity told people not to approach the animal.
Mrs Cooper said she couldn't believe her eyes and videoed the Australian native before it escaped over a neighbouring fence.
She said: 'I was having a coffee and first saw a fox and texted my husband, which he wasn't that impressed by, then five minutes later I texted him to say we had a wallaby bounding around.
'It was a big shock, I didn't know how close to get to it but it seemed happy enough.
'Nobody has a clue where it came from. If one had escaped from a local zoo we would have known about it.
'It looked healthy and cared for. It was a very strange seeing this animal hopping around the garden - it was madness.
'A policeman arrived. He was great - he stood and watched it but the animal jumped over the fence. He said he was there if we needed him.
'Then the RSPCA arrived and the animal jumped over a neighbour's fence and we haven't seen it since.' Dorset Police said a search was carried out but nothing was found.
The RSPCA said one of its officers was called to the incident but the animal had fled.
A spokeswoman said there has not been any reports of escaped animals in the area.
She added: 'We've spoken to an expert and apparently there are a number of wallabies which live wild in the UK.
'If anyone sees it we would urge them to call our helpline on 0300 123 4999.
'We urge people not to approach the animal or touch it, not because it will necessarily become violent, but you may do it more harm than good.'
Link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1388243/Wallaby-Dorset-garden-escaping-fence.html#ixzz1Mu1oGmFy
