It has been a very strange few years and there is no denying that! It has even been weird when it comes to strange animal stories making headlines. I recently came across a few from the last couple of years that made me scratch my head and they all had to do with kangaroos.

Another strange animal story that made headlines recently? A pig was on the loose in St. Paul, just randomly roaming around the city. People in the area saw it and did a double take and I probably would too.

In September, an alligator was spotted in a local pond in Wisconsin. The Kewaskum Police Department warned locals that a rogue alligator was on the loose. They shared that it was probably a Black Caiman Alligator, which is sometimes raised domestically.

Even a raccoon made headlines. In October, the Duluth Fire Department had to build a ladder to rescue a raccoon that had gotten stuck in a storm drain. It's not everyday you read a story like this.

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I saw something the other day about kangaroo sightings in Wisconsin from 2021. Upon further research, I learned that these have not been totally uncommon over the years. I don't know what I would do if I saw a kangaroo in the wild. Ha!

For example, in summer of 2021, someone reported seeing a kangaroo in their front yard. This happened in Fon du Lac County and the kangaroo was eating berries out of a tree. Several witnesses at the time saw the kangaroo eating the berries before hopping off into a field.

Another sighting happened back in the summer of 2019. The local police department shared on social media that they had been dispatched to a possible kangaroo sighting. The sighting reportedly happened early in the morning.

Another good example of this comes from a year prior. While a sad ending, a kangaroo sighting did happen, yet again in Wisconsin. A local couple spotted the rogue kangaroo and were trying to lure it to safety across the street. Unfortunately, when it was crossing, it was struck and killed.

These are just a few examples in a sea of them so why is it that Wisconsin of all places has kangaroo sightings like this? It might be because, in true Wisconsin fashion, there are only three states that allow you to have a kangaroo without a permit and they are one of them.

Don't run out and buy a kangaroo just yet. This is left up to local governments, according to the Milwaukee Mag. That means in one city it might be fine while in another it might not. On top of that, you do need a permit to bring one into the state so while you don't need a permit to own one, you do need one to bring the animal into state lines.

I won't lie, kangaroos are cute but do you really want to own one? They belong in a zoo or in their native environment - not the cold and arctic air of Wisconsin. Sorry Wisconsinites!

These kangaroo sightings are some of my favorite stories but my favorite story of the past year? The fattest bear in Minnesota that was caught on camera! I love bears and this was just the best thing ever.

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LOOK: Here are the pets banned in each state

Because the regulation of exotic animals is left to states, some organizations, including The Humane Society of the United States, advocate for federal, standardized legislation that would ban owning large cats, bears, primates, and large poisonous snakes as pets.

Read on to see which pets are banned in your home state, as well as across the nation.

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