Where’s Wally? Wallaby sighted in the Bolham

Rona Moberly writes: Responding to the recent call for volunteer litter-pickers I set out with my neighbour, Zelda Gray, armed with the requisite heavy-duty gloves and bin bags to attack our allocated area. The day was dry, but chilly, as we wandered up and down the lanes, picking up the litter and enjoying a good old gossip as we went.

A number of passers-by stopped their cars to enquire what we were doing or to pass on some encouraging comments but our most unusual observer was a character who has actually become a bit of a legend in the valley over the last few years.

‘Wally the Wallaby’ quietly watched us for a good five minutes. Unfortunately, he didn’t offer any useful advice but he was quite content to pose for a celebrity photo or two, before quietly hopping off back into the safety of the trees.

Deer, pheasants, buzzards and wallabies – you never quite know what you will encounter next in the beautiful Bolham valley!

Editor’s note: There’s no reason to think Wally lives in the Bolham or that he is alone. There have been more than 100 sightings around Britain in the past ten years. The Independent reported last November: “Feral red-necked wallabies have been seen bobbing along dark stretches of road in Kent, scampering into towns in Devon, fighting police in St Ives, and patrolling the graves in London’s Highgate Cemetery…

“Free-range wallabies have been reported hopping all over the country, from Cornwall to Norfolk, and from the Home Counties all the way up to Scotland, though most were in the south.”