The Kangaroo

On March 25, 2026, at 11:15 AM, a 16-month-old kangaroo named Chesney cleared an 8-foot fence at Sunshine Farm in Necedah, Wisconsin, and disappeared.

The cause was dogs. Stray dogs rushed the enclosure. (The dogs were not organized. They had no stated demands.) Chesney, who is 16 months old and had presumably encountered things before, responded by jumping an 8-foot fence and keeping moving.

For context: 8 feet is not a junior varsity fence. The fence was not built by someone who thought Chesney couldn't clear it. It was built by someone who thought he wouldn't. There is a difference, and March 25 clarified it.

Debbie Marland, Chesney's keeper, spent the next three days covering approximately 37,000 steps per day searching for him. That is roughly twelve miles per day. Over three days, that is thirty-six miles. Chesney, for his part, had stayed within a three-mile radius of the farm the entire time. (He was not lost. The situation was more nuanced than that.)

The search infrastructure included heat-seeking drones (rented), a team of local volunteers, and periodic aerial sweeps. Colton Johnson of Midwest Aerial Drone Services assisted with the thermal imaging operation. The thermal signature of a kangaroo in Wisconsin in late March is, apparently, detectable.

Chesney has a roommate named Kenny. Both are named for country music star Kenny Chesney, which is a sentence I have now written and which accurately describes two kangaroos living in central Wisconsin. They share enclosure space with Kunekune pigs, a Bactrian camel, and Highland cows. The farm opens to visitors from mid-May through mid-November, Fridays through Sundays. I mention this because I want you to have the full picture.

On Friday night, after 60 hours of searching, Chesney was found resting under a tree in a wooded area. Searchers surrounded him. Chesney runs at 20 miles per hour. The searchers, who had each personally logged well over 30,000 steps that day, did not. Chesney was not recovered.

On Saturday morning, Debbie returned with Chesney's favorite treats and material carrying the scents of Chesney and Kenny. This worked immediately.

The 37,000-steps-per-day operation, the rented thermal drones, the coordinated volunteer search — all of it had been, in some sense, a delivery mechanism for the correct final answer, which was: bring Kenny's smell and some snacks.

The farm's enclosure has since been reinforced.

The dogs have not been found.