Wallaby Hops into Cornish Garden
The Beast of Bodmin could have a rival - a wallaby has been spotted
making himself at home in the garden of a property in nearby St Breward.
The marsupial is believed to have escaped from a nearby farm.
Wallabies are well known escapees and experts think there are at least
two colonies breeding in the UK.
Last year holidaymakers spotted a wallaby-like creature in woodland
around Hessenford and Seaton in South East Cornwall.
The latest wallaby was spotted in Alan and Pam Balding's garden on
Wednesday morning.
Crocodile alert
Mark Symonds, who keeps wallabies on his nearby St Endellion farm as
an attraction, said he suspected it had escaped.
"Last Thursday one got out," he said. "We are about six miles away and
we tried to catch it a couple of times.
"I've looked at the photographs and it's almost identical to the one
that's here.
"Hopefully we'll be able to catch it.
"They are a bit difficult to catch. They tend to put their heads down
and go."
Basking sharks, wild boar and even a crocodile have been spotted in
Cornwall in the past, but no beast has made as many headlines as the
elusive Beast of Bodmin.
In August 1998 a 20-second video was released and was declared by some
wild cat experts to be the best evidence yet that big cats roam Bodmin
Moor.
There have been about 60 big cat sightings recorded in the area since
1983 but in 1995 a government report concluded there was no evidence
that big cats existed on the moor.
BBC News: 19th September 2007
