Rupert The Wallaby Home In Monee After 'He Had His Adventure'

MONEE, IL — Josie Hange understands not everyone feels as connected to animals as she may, but after a stressful five days of searching for her family's pet wallaby, she can honestly say that a part of the family has returned home.

Rupert, Hange's wallaby returned to the comforts of his Monee home on Saturday night after Hange was able to corral the beloved pet in a neighbor's garage two blocks from home. Rupert had been missing since early last week, which triggered a search that Hange told Patch took her on an emotional rollercoaster ride.

Hange posted on Facebook that Rupert had been found and told Patch on Sunday that after monitoring Rupert's whereabouts throughout the night on Friday and into Saturday, she was able to get Rupert to jump into his pouch in a neighbor's garage around 5 p.m.

"He's a part of the family," Hange told Patch, describing the stress over not being able to find Rupert. "When God forbid, a kid or another pet you've had and raised since they were a baby – if they went missing, you'd be sick with worry. So why wouldn't it be the same with our pet?"

In a Facebook post on Saturday night, Hange said that Rupert enjoyed a welcome-home spaghetti dinner and refused to leave his bag. She said that Rupert was tired and wanted a bath to celebrate being home.

Hange told Patch last week that Rupert had always been supervised when he was outside for short periods. He wears a harness while in the house, but Hange had taken it off the day he went missing, she told Patch last week. Rupert was outside, in a pen near the pool for a short time, when he escaped when Hange turned her back just for a second.

The Hange family worked with P.A.W.S in Tinley Park to try to locate Rupert. The search included setting up feeding stations and following tips called in by local residents. Hange said she received 15-20 phone calls per day in addition to emails with tips about possible sightings. She said Sunday night that she found it difficult to keep her emotions in check as she followed up on tips.

The vast majority of the tips did not include video evidence that the person had actually spotted Rupert, Hange said. Instead, many of the phone calls were notifications that the person thought they saw Rupert or "saw something." But when she finally got video evidence on Friday night that Rupert was in the area, she was able to monitor his whereabouts until she was able to catch him on Saturday evening.

Hange said while she was en route to try to locate Rupert, the wallaby ran about 50 yards in front of her car, which led to the happy reunion.

In between, Hange says that Rupert was chased by two young coyotes who were not in a pack, but who were out hunting. Rupert lost about 10 pounds while on the loose, his owners said. But Hange says she will have no trouble putting the weight back on Rupert and says that outside of being tired and not wanting to be held, everything ended well.

"I think that's the most relief I've ever felt," Hange told Patch on Sunday night. "We lose people to death, we lose people to weird circumstances. When it comes to animals — I know not everyone thinks the same way, but they become part of your family. You grow attached to them, you raise them. He is my baby. I have children, but he is my baby as well.

"To have him with me is the biggest relief I've ever gotten ... He was ready to come home. He was done. He's had his adventure, but he was done."