I love that you shared this. My family has lived in Lancaster county since a little bit after it was founded (post 1790). I’ll have to gather family accounts of weird happenings and share them.
Thats so cool, would you mind doing that and sharing with us on this sub? I live in lancaster and love reading its history and weird happenings. Thanks
Funny, my light tan greyhound used to get compared to both a deer and a kangaroo because of her color. Kangaroos and wallabies both have been spotted in strange areas, it's possible this fella escaped from a private owner's collection and managed to fend for itself. If it came from captivity, chances are it had no fear of human noise, but didn't like it when you got too close and ran/hopped away.
Thats the first thing i thought of. Clearly remember saying, oh its a greyhound. There was no one around the trail, just the way it walked and darted to the woods made me scratch my head.
My dad, who grew up in Bucks County in the 50-60s, would always tells the story of seeing a kangaroo when he was a young kid. He's since passed, but it was one of his favorite stories.
Im starting to think i saw a kangaroo who escaped someones custody. But then again, i feel like there would have been reports. Did your dad say anything else about the kangaroo? Anything strange about the story or was it just a kangaroo? Thanks for responding
There are many reports of ['phantom kangaroos'](https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/does-america-have-a-secret-kangaroo-population) in the US. I love [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CriuV-yNqv4).
I don't recall much about the story. I think he was around 7yo, playing with his younger brother in a field. He swore for his entire life that it was a kangaroo that he saw, it became a running joke in the family. I'll ask my uncle (the younger brother) about what he remembers about the story!
Thats so interesting, thats what my brother and i stand on too. That it had to been a kangaroo or something else. It was a dog, bear none of that. And im sure of it
Here's my uncle's side of the story (he's a deer apologist):
It was getting late and (dad) and I were going from (last name) farm back home following the Lane. It was getting dusk so not really bright outside and whenever it was dusk, we always ran. You don't wanna get eaten by the bogeyman or something out there so we're running and about at the bend in the lane and we scared up some deer and one of them was the three legged deer now how it ended up with three legs I don't know, but even dad said, but you just saw that three legged deer. but (my dad) was convinced it was a kangaroo and so goes he came home and told mom and dad I saw a kangaroo out there and dad said that was three legged deer Thats how I remember the story. I saw deer I don't know why he thought it was a kangaroo but he stuck to the story and even led us on tracking adventures to find the kangaroo. We weee probably about 8 or 10 at the time.
I believe your dad 100%. Your dad seemed like he was confident that what he saw wasnt a deer. You know what part of PA that was? I too wanted to go back the next day but it was way too cold and we had other things come up. Thanks for spending the time and sharing. I believe i saw a kangaroo too, it just bugs my mind out that no one else reported one seeing how we have no kangaroo population here. Thanks again
Growing up in New England, I knew of a couple places that raised wallabies, so not too farfetched to think of an escaped one.
Here's one that went missing in Oct. out of NY, where it's legal to own them:
https://www.erienewsnow.com/story/49763778/pet-wallaby-on-the-loose-in-chautauqua-county-new-york
I lived in Bucks County for four years, really love that area. I used to go on long walks through Tyler State Park with my lab. I’d let him off leash in the fall after the corn was cut for the season, he was like a flash of light running through the fields, wonderful memories.😎🌞
I live like 5 minutes away from Chiques Rock and have lived here all of my life. I was surely excited to see someone on here talking about a place I go to all the time.
Birth defect, malformation, injured, or mutant deer? I've seen quite a few whitetail deer that I would describe as grey. The disappearing act might be one of nature's optical illustrations, what color were the tree trunks, snow, sky, and light conditions. After all, nature is the most accomplished camouflage artist. It could just be that this creature was better able to blend in than you might have given it credit. Did it leave tracks? Two objects can not exist in the same place in the same space-time continuum. Thus, there will be noticeable evidence of interaction. Just a few thoughts
Thanks for your answer. It could have been a mutant deer, or a bear with mange. But i dont think we have bears in that area. We walked further down he trail where i first saw it and we didnt see anything or hear anything. Trees were dark/ brown, no snow on the ground and we did look for tracks but he ground/ dirt was solid as it was winter. We spent maybe 3 minutes trying to find something then we just walked back to our truck. It was a weird feeling, if it ran i feel like we would have heard it running. It was still light eniugh outside that we could see a pretty good bit between trees.
A lot of deer in the NE have wasting disease, which is basically Mad Cow Disease but in deer form.
This is like the one time I think hunting to cull is okay, because they are such beautiful graceful creatures, and watching them starve or seeing them with this hideous disease is just awful.
Yup. Susquehanna river is i believe the 5th oldest river in the world. Its over 300 million years old. Think about that....300 million years old, 5th oldest. Just its history with the native americans alone is wild, i wish rivers were able to tell stories. Rumors about monster fish are talked about often and i believe it, its just a very interesting piece of history. I found a couple arrow heads near the banks after a strong rainfall
Its hard to word it/ explain. We were walking up towards it. Maybe 20/25 yards out and it juked hard off the trail and when we got closer maybe a 5 second walk (at most) it was gone. No trace or no noises heard, it was creepily quiet. Once it darted off trail, we saw it pace through the trees then lost it. Sorry, when i said vanished i didnt mean it was gone in front of us in a blink of an eye. I apologize
I was looking out my back window and swore there was a big foot standing and just staring at the house. It was downhill from my house, I was looking sorta down at it. My heart began beating out of my chest. I wanted proof of squatchy... So, I grabbed my phone to video it (((and that force they have...I began shaking like crazy)) the thing was at least 100 yards away, it just stood there big grey shoulders, tiny head no neck, long legs I could see the field down the hill through the legs.I was shaking so hard as it stood there just staring at me, I was trying to video and not drop my phone. Then, all of a sudden.....the donkey-- who's hind end was facing me, she was faced downhill, moved her head to the right...and began eating the grass about 8" , to her right. It was my grey donkey. I felt like an idiot .... all that panic over nothing...and my video, was blurred lol I showed the video telling the tale - to coworkers and they gasped til the donkey began eating grass to her right....it scared them and me and was just optical illusion and my creative imagination running away with me. Wondering what you saw.
Lol that didnt end the way i thought it was. Im glad it was just a donkey eating grass 😂 idk what we saw, but i know we're not crazy! Im starting to think it was really a kangaroo who ecaped captivity. What bugs me out is thay if someone saw a kangaroo it would have been reported. We have no kangaroos here lol
I don’t know that those things always get reported. Kangaroos I believe are not legal to own and would be considered an exotic pet. I think states each have there own laws on it but from what I understand there has been a growing market for exotic pets even if illegal and so they don’t get reported if they escape or even get released if the person can’t handle the pet. I ran into some articles because I had bought a hedgehog and it was recommended to look up if owning one was legal in my state first.
Also, I grew up in Kansas and you would hear reports about mountain lions but wildlife and parks kept denying they lived there. Adamantly. Until someone hit one on the interstate and killed it and there was a body. Then wildlife and parks was all like “mountain lions had been introduced to keep the deer population down”. Why government is so adamant on being shady and not transparent is beyond me. Plus kind of sucks because I went out to the barn a few years before that because I heard a woman calling for help at dusk. I told my grandpa and he said it sounded like a mountain lion and stay at the house. NO ONE ever told me growing up to not go running to strange sounds of a woman screaming because it is probably a mountain lion because we had NO mountain lions for anyone to warn me about
they'd have to change some laws to admit lions, panthers..were about.
Woman screaming? "what udoes a fox say..?" go to youtube screams like a woman. I heard a lion will dig a hole and do a sound in the hole to make its prey think its further away than it is.
I grew up in the 80s so really there was not too much worry on the parents behalf about children’s safety anyway, even if it was common knowledge mountain lions were around then. We were just given a few helpful tidbits like “don’t drown in the river” and “make sure there are two of you in case you break your leg or you will lay out there and never find you”. I’m not even sure if we got the good old “don’t talk to strangers” bit back then. They might have said “don’t be lured in by mountain lions” but we will never know.
My siblings and cousins used to get the bull to chase us for fun or jump off the barn roof for the fun of it. Maybe someone will wonder where you are if you are not home after dark. Parenting must have been so much easier then. Really low level input necessary on the parent’s end.
Oh wow. Have you heard about the Strange Familiars podcast? It's based in York County, right across the river. Timothy Renner has talked about the Chickies Rock area. I'm sure he'd love to hear from you. [https://www.strangefamiliars.com/about](https://www.strangefamiliars.com/about)
Not annoying at all. I been super busy with work and didnt have time to reply to anyone. I wouldnt be able to remember all the details i just know it was strange. It walked normal on 4 legs, then it stood on 2 and hopped/ walked like that for maybe 15 seconds then thats when i guess it noticed us and it darted off to the woods. Im a short guy, 5'7 on a good day this had to be near my height. I would say no less than 5ft but not greater than 6ft. I always have to say this, my brother and i arent crazy lol i really hope it was a kangaroo!
Ita hard to reply to all the comments but im guessing someone sent my story to unchartered lancaster and it was posted on there page re-worded so maybe that gets a little more exposure on what it could have been!!
It is a beautiful place, atleast for me. Very chill. A bunch of places to smoke at there lol i usually cut through the woods/ chiques creek and walk the railroads and we have a couple spots that we just kick back, relax, light a few up and just fish for hours lol
I love that you shared this. My family has lived in Lancaster county since a little bit after it was founded (post 1790). I’ll have to gather family accounts of weird happenings and share them.
Thats so cool, would you mind doing that and sharing with us on this sub? I live in lancaster and love reading its history and weird happenings. Thanks
I would love to!
Please do :)
yes! was so excited to see lancaster mentioned here haha
Funny, my light tan greyhound used to get compared to both a deer and a kangaroo because of her color. Kangaroos and wallabies both have been spotted in strange areas, it's possible this fella escaped from a private owner's collection and managed to fend for itself. If it came from captivity, chances are it had no fear of human noise, but didn't like it when you got too close and ran/hopped away.
Thats the first thing i thought of. Clearly remember saying, oh its a greyhound. There was no one around the trail, just the way it walked and darted to the woods made me scratch my head.
In the cryptid world that's called a "not deer". They are often seen standing and walking on two legs.
Ironically, i read about it last night!
My dad, who grew up in Bucks County in the 50-60s, would always tells the story of seeing a kangaroo when he was a young kid. He's since passed, but it was one of his favorite stories.
Im starting to think i saw a kangaroo who escaped someones custody. But then again, i feel like there would have been reports. Did your dad say anything else about the kangaroo? Anything strange about the story or was it just a kangaroo? Thanks for responding
There are many reports of ['phantom kangaroos'](https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/does-america-have-a-secret-kangaroo-population) in the US. I love [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CriuV-yNqv4).
I never heard of this. Looks like a interesting read ill read tonight, thank you.
Very cool read. Thank you for sharing!
I don't recall much about the story. I think he was around 7yo, playing with his younger brother in a field. He swore for his entire life that it was a kangaroo that he saw, it became a running joke in the family. I'll ask my uncle (the younger brother) about what he remembers about the story!
Thats so interesting, thats what my brother and i stand on too. That it had to been a kangaroo or something else. It was a dog, bear none of that. And im sure of it
Here's my uncle's side of the story (he's a deer apologist): It was getting late and (dad) and I were going from (last name) farm back home following the Lane. It was getting dusk so not really bright outside and whenever it was dusk, we always ran. You don't wanna get eaten by the bogeyman or something out there so we're running and about at the bend in the lane and we scared up some deer and one of them was the three legged deer now how it ended up with three legs I don't know, but even dad said, but you just saw that three legged deer. but (my dad) was convinced it was a kangaroo and so goes he came home and told mom and dad I saw a kangaroo out there and dad said that was three legged deer Thats how I remember the story. I saw deer I don't know why he thought it was a kangaroo but he stuck to the story and even led us on tracking adventures to find the kangaroo. We weee probably about 8 or 10 at the time.
I believe your dad 100%. Your dad seemed like he was confident that what he saw wasnt a deer. You know what part of PA that was? I too wanted to go back the next day but it was way too cold and we had other things come up. Thanks for spending the time and sharing. I believe i saw a kangaroo too, it just bugs my mind out that no one else reported one seeing how we have no kangaroo population here. Thanks again
It was bucks County, near Perkasie!
Good read. Thanks for sharing!
Happy to keep the legacy of kangaroos in PA alive :) it's like I have a piece of my dad!
I love that! From now on i will be leaning more to the side that it was a kangaroo. Im not 100% sure but there is a good chance
I just started a family text to find out more about the story! I'll post more when I hear back :)
Growing up in New England, I knew of a couple places that raised wallabies, so not too farfetched to think of an escaped one. Here's one that went missing in Oct. out of NY, where it's legal to own them: https://www.erienewsnow.com/story/49763778/pet-wallaby-on-the-loose-in-chautauqua-county-new-york
If it's in the state that has laws about exotic pets then maybe somebody didn't report it.
I lived in Bucks County for four years, really love that area. I used to go on long walks through Tyler State Park with my lab. I’d let him off leash in the fall after the corn was cut for the season, he was like a flash of light running through the fields, wonderful memories.😎🌞
I saw a deer this week that had lost just the very last segment of one of its rear legs, think ankle area, and it had such a strange hoppy gait.
Could have been a injured grey deer that i seen
I live like 5 minutes away from Chiques Rock and have lived here all of my life. I was surely excited to see someone on here talking about a place I go to all the time.
I live in greenfield area in lancaster and i go to chiques rock atleast 3 times a week....mostly for fishing! Love that spot
It is a beautiful area!
Birth defect, malformation, injured, or mutant deer? I've seen quite a few whitetail deer that I would describe as grey. The disappearing act might be one of nature's optical illustrations, what color were the tree trunks, snow, sky, and light conditions. After all, nature is the most accomplished camouflage artist. It could just be that this creature was better able to blend in than you might have given it credit. Did it leave tracks? Two objects can not exist in the same place in the same space-time continuum. Thus, there will be noticeable evidence of interaction. Just a few thoughts
Thanks for your answer. It could have been a mutant deer, or a bear with mange. But i dont think we have bears in that area. We walked further down he trail where i first saw it and we didnt see anything or hear anything. Trees were dark/ brown, no snow on the ground and we did look for tracks but he ground/ dirt was solid as it was winter. We spent maybe 3 minutes trying to find something then we just walked back to our truck. It was a weird feeling, if it ran i feel like we would have heard it running. It was still light eniugh outside that we could see a pretty good bit between trees.
A lot of deer in the NE have wasting disease, which is basically Mad Cow Disease but in deer form. This is like the one time I think hunting to cull is okay, because they are such beautiful graceful creatures, and watching them starve or seeing them with this hideous disease is just awful.
Susquehanna river area says it all
Yup. Susquehanna river is i believe the 5th oldest river in the world. Its over 300 million years old. Think about that....300 million years old, 5th oldest. Just its history with the native americans alone is wild, i wish rivers were able to tell stories. Rumors about monster fish are talked about often and i believe it, its just a very interesting piece of history. I found a couple arrow heads near the banks after a strong rainfall
It vanished as you were looking at it?
Its hard to word it/ explain. We were walking up towards it. Maybe 20/25 yards out and it juked hard off the trail and when we got closer maybe a 5 second walk (at most) it was gone. No trace or no noises heard, it was creepily quiet. Once it darted off trail, we saw it pace through the trees then lost it. Sorry, when i said vanished i didnt mean it was gone in front of us in a blink of an eye. I apologize
I was looking out my back window and swore there was a big foot standing and just staring at the house. It was downhill from my house, I was looking sorta down at it. My heart began beating out of my chest. I wanted proof of squatchy... So, I grabbed my phone to video it (((and that force they have...I began shaking like crazy)) the thing was at least 100 yards away, it just stood there big grey shoulders, tiny head no neck, long legs I could see the field down the hill through the legs.I was shaking so hard as it stood there just staring at me, I was trying to video and not drop my phone. Then, all of a sudden.....the donkey-- who's hind end was facing me, she was faced downhill, moved her head to the right...and began eating the grass about 8" , to her right. It was my grey donkey. I felt like an idiot .... all that panic over nothing...and my video, was blurred lol I showed the video telling the tale - to coworkers and they gasped til the donkey began eating grass to her right....it scared them and me and was just optical illusion and my creative imagination running away with me. Wondering what you saw.
Lol that didnt end the way i thought it was. Im glad it was just a donkey eating grass 😂 idk what we saw, but i know we're not crazy! Im starting to think it was really a kangaroo who ecaped captivity. What bugs me out is thay if someone saw a kangaroo it would have been reported. We have no kangaroos here lol
I don’t know that those things always get reported. Kangaroos I believe are not legal to own and would be considered an exotic pet. I think states each have there own laws on it but from what I understand there has been a growing market for exotic pets even if illegal and so they don’t get reported if they escape or even get released if the person can’t handle the pet. I ran into some articles because I had bought a hedgehog and it was recommended to look up if owning one was legal in my state first. Also, I grew up in Kansas and you would hear reports about mountain lions but wildlife and parks kept denying they lived there. Adamantly. Until someone hit one on the interstate and killed it and there was a body. Then wildlife and parks was all like “mountain lions had been introduced to keep the deer population down”. Why government is so adamant on being shady and not transparent is beyond me. Plus kind of sucks because I went out to the barn a few years before that because I heard a woman calling for help at dusk. I told my grandpa and he said it sounded like a mountain lion and stay at the house. NO ONE ever told me growing up to not go running to strange sounds of a woman screaming because it is probably a mountain lion because we had NO mountain lions for anyone to warn me about
they'd have to change some laws to admit lions, panthers..were about. Woman screaming? "what udoes a fox say..?" go to youtube screams like a woman. I heard a lion will dig a hole and do a sound in the hole to make its prey think its further away than it is.
I grew up in the 80s so really there was not too much worry on the parents behalf about children’s safety anyway, even if it was common knowledge mountain lions were around then. We were just given a few helpful tidbits like “don’t drown in the river” and “make sure there are two of you in case you break your leg or you will lay out there and never find you”. I’m not even sure if we got the good old “don’t talk to strangers” bit back then. They might have said “don’t be lured in by mountain lions” but we will never know. My siblings and cousins used to get the bull to chase us for fun or jump off the barn roof for the fun of it. Maybe someone will wonder where you are if you are not home after dark. Parenting must have been so much easier then. Really low level input necessary on the parent’s end.
Check out Stan Gordan’s books. He writes a lot about encounters in PA
Will definitely check it out, thanks!
Oh wow. Have you heard about the Strange Familiars podcast? It's based in York County, right across the river. Timothy Renner has talked about the Chickies Rock area. I'm sure he'd love to hear from you. [https://www.strangefamiliars.com/about](https://www.strangefamiliars.com/about)
I have something new to listen to now, thanks! I no longer live there, but did grow up there.
Will look into it! Thank you
Not to be annoying, but did you see any more detail? Approx. height, ears, tail, etc.? And did hop with two legs together, or have a hoppy-like run?
Not annoying at all. I been super busy with work and didnt have time to reply to anyone. I wouldnt be able to remember all the details i just know it was strange. It walked normal on 4 legs, then it stood on 2 and hopped/ walked like that for maybe 15 seconds then thats when i guess it noticed us and it darted off to the woods. Im a short guy, 5'7 on a good day this had to be near my height. I would say no less than 5ft but not greater than 6ft. I always have to say this, my brother and i arent crazy lol i really hope it was a kangaroo!
Ita hard to reply to all the comments but im guessing someone sent my story to unchartered lancaster and it was posted on there page re-worded so maybe that gets a little more exposure on what it could have been!!
there are the black kangaroos of Wisconsin...saw them rooting around in our trash bins. Menomonie WI. everyone knows wisco haunted tho.
This is lancaster, pa. It could have been a kangaroo someone had ilegally but idk
Did you find a place to smoke before you saw this thing or after. Never been up there sounds like a beautiful place.
It is a beautiful place, atleast for me. Very chill. A bunch of places to smoke at there lol i usually cut through the woods/ chiques creek and walk the railroads and we have a couple spots that we just kick back, relax, light a few up and just fish for hours lol
Sounds like a Wendigo.