Somers had ordered Ru-Ru a girlfriend from Florida, she said. The little wallaby was expected to arrive in August, but when the breeder heard that Ru-Ru had fled, she offered to send Somers the baby now.
After four skittish days of isolating himself in a canvas pouch in his cage, Ru-Ru went gaga when he got wind of his tiny new friend last night.
Once the unnamed female wallaby, who is held in a makeshift pouch constructed from a T-shirt, had been fed from a four-inch bottle, Somers held her up to Ru-Ru's cage.
Ru-Ru showed the kind of excitement his caretakers said they hadn't seen since he returned, traumatized by his adventure. He frantically shoved his snout through the cage bars, trying to sniff and lick the ears of his new friend.
The female baby's interest was piqued - she poked her tiny nose out of the pouch and smelled her suitor, one year her elder.
Somers lifted the baby, who is about the size of a sewer rat, away from the cage when Ru-Ru tried to grab the pouch to get a closer whiff.
After a gestation period of about seven weeks, newborn wallabies immediately make their way to their mothers' pouches, where they spend eight or nine months, Somers said. Ru-Ru's friend was taken from her mother's pouch about 6 1/2 months ago, after spending two weeks there, Somers said.
The new wallaby will not be ready for breeding for at least a year, Somers said. Females usually produce one baby a year, although they have been known to carry two, she said.
Physically, Ru-Ru is in pretty good condition, Somers said. He is thinner than before his adventure, moves a bit slower and came home wearing about 10 ticks, but he is eating well, she said. Somers planned to take him to a veterinarian for rabies and Lyme disease tests today.
Emotionally, he has made small hops toward recovery.
``He seems a little more scared of things,'' said Lori Whitely, one of his caretakers. ``I think he's pretty stressed.''
While he is more tentative, he also is more needy of affection, Whitely said.
Officials from the Chester County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals and West Goshen police had little luck helping Somers hunt for Ru-Ru, who had never been outside.
Then he just sauntered home Saturday night.
``He came walking in here like he hadn't left,'' Somers said. ``We had just about given up hope.''
``I was so happy when he came back, I started to cry,'' Whitely said.
