There are plenty of kangaroos in South Australia but not many of them like cider, playing footy, watching TV and sitting at the table for breakfast. But Beemer, the red kangaroo, does. Each morning he eats a plate of grass with a side of Vegemite toast watched by his adopted mum, Julianne "Julz" Bradley, in her Glendambo home in the Far North. He also loves dry cider but Julz - who saved him after a road accident 18 months ago - doesn't let him overindulge. Something he's allowed to do every day is to muck about with a football, his favourite pastime.
On Tuesday nights, Beemer has a nap after dinner and wakes up in time to watch his favourite TV show, Skippy, which is on very late. "He just stands there and watches it. He relates to it, he loves the theme music and dances to it," said Julz, 50, who lives alone. But Skippy isn't the only thing he likes to watch on TV. As well, Beemer loves donning a Coober Pedy Saints guernsey to watch St Kilda play every weekend during the footy season. Sometimes, he'll even wear a blue shirt for his own safety. "The National Parks and Wildlife told me to put a shirt on him so that the roo shooters know he's a pet," Julz said.
She said she always wanted a pet kangaroo but it was only when, 18 months ago, a woman brought little Beemer into the Glendambo service station that Julz manages that her dream was realised. The woman rescued Beemer from his mother's pouch after she was killed by a BMW motorcycle. The woman took the tiny joey in a jumper to the nearest service station where Beemer met his new mum, Julz.
Beemer is now hopping happily around Julz's backyard and in and out of the doggy door of her house - which he makes a bit bigger by kicking every now and then to accommodate his growing body. He shares the yard and house with Julz's other pets - Woolly the merino sheep, dogs Ned, Apples and Cider and Petie the cat. "Beemer wouldn't know if he's a kangaroo, a cat, a dog or a sheep," Julz said. He could easily jump the metre-high fence that surrounds the yard but it seems Beemer wants to stay. "I love him and he loves me," Julz said. "It would break my heart if he ran away but I don't think he will. He's just like part of the family, he's like my son."
