CDLLife recently had the chance to catch up with a trucker who travels with one of the most unusual furry co-pilots we’ve ever seen — a baby red kangaroo.
Texas-based truck driver Kenny Lovett is turning heads both online and in truck stops with his almost too-cute-to-be-true in-cab companion Duncan, who is a red kangaroo that is approximately 10 months old.
So where did Duncan come from?
While Lovett said that he rarely took pets on the road with him prior to Duncan, he and his wife have always loved exotic animals. Lovett said that one day he simply decided that “I want a kangaroo” and then contacted a breeder who was able to connect him with Duncan in August of 2022.
What’s life like on the road with a kangaroo co-pilot?
Lovett drives a 1990 cabover and his routes typically take him through the midwest, often to Illinois or Ohio. Lovett says that after he took Duncan in, he was initially concerned about the prospect of taking a kangaroo out on the road, but he decided to give it a go — and it seems that Duncan is a natural born trucker. As of January 2023, Duncan has travelled regularly outside of Texas on Lovett’s runs to the midwest.
According to Lovett, Duncan is a great road companion who’s comparable in temperament to a cat. He’s happy to stay in his cloth pouch and sleep most of the time. Kangaroos can’t be house trained, so he wears a diaper when he’s in the truck to avoid accidents. Lovett says Duncan is an easy animal to maintain.
“He enjoys the road,” Lovett said.
When he’s done napping, Duncan sometimes hops around the sleeper or sits and watches cars pass in the parking lot.
“He doesn’t listen to you,” Lovett said.
What does Duncan’s future hold?
Right now, Duncan is only about 6 pounds. Lovett says that as a male, he could eventually grow to over five feet tall, but since he’s been neutered, he probably won’t hit a muscular 200 pounds like a red kangaroo in the wild.
Lovett says that once Duncan is too big to ride along, he’ll spent his days outside with the family dogs on his 3 and a half acres of property.
How do people react to seeing a kangaroo at the truck stop?
Lovett says that the public reaction to Duncan is a mixture of disbelief and delight.
He says that in spite of the surprise of running into such an exotic animal, most people he meets out on the road can recognize Duncan as a ‘roo and not a more common American animal like a deer.
Lovett says that Duncan is becoming a popular attraction at his regular customer’s facilities when he picks up or drops off a load.
“People don’t believe it,” Lovett said. “But what’s cool about it is they get a smile out it … It’s worth it if it makes someone’s day.”