Australia: Police use pepper spray on kangaroo after it attacked 94-year-old woman hanging her laundry

AUSTRALIA -- A 94-year-old grandmother told of her life-and-death battle with a giant kangaroo which bowled her over as she was hanging out her washing.

For the next terrifying five minutes Mrs Phyllis Johnson desperately shielded herself from the big red kangaroo's kicks, at one stage managing to reach a broom to try to beat it away.

'I thought it was going to kill me,' the old lady said as she recovered in hospital in Charleville, in outback Queensland.

'I grew up with boxing kangaroos being a part of everyday life because they were a feature in travelling circuses. But this fellah was a monster and for some reason took a dislike to me.'

Mrs Johnson had walked out from the small flat where she lives in Charleville to hang up the washing, a Sunday routine.

'Suddenly this 'roo came crashing through all the clothes and came straight for me.

'I happened to have a broom nearby and I just started swinging at it.

'I bashed it on the head but it kept going for me. Not even the dog would help - it was too frightened.'

Mrs Johnson told Brisbane's Courier Mail that bruised, scratched and bleeding she finally managed to escape by crawling like a commando across the back yard. She reached a post and used it to pull herself upright before retreating indoors.

There, she phoned her son to come to her rescue - because the kangaroo was still in the back yard.

Despite using a stick for protection, Mrs Johnson's son was unable to shoo the kangaroo away, so the couple called the police.

Two officers from the local police station turned up - and the kangaroo turned on them.

They were forced to use capsicum spray to subdue the animal, which was in 'panic mode,' said Senior Sergeant Stephen Perkins, officer in charge of Charleville police station.

'As it ran away from the officer who sprayed it, the kangaroo went for the other police officer and he also had to use his spray from getting hurt,' said Sergeant Perkins.

'You could say it's one of the many unusual calls we get out here.'

From her hospital bed, Mrs Johnson said: 'I wasn't planning to come here, but I was pretty bruised and scratched up.

'My son made me come here. I'm OK, although the 'roo took a chunk of flesh out of my leg and there's a chance they'll have to operate.

'I've always had a soft spot for 'roos. I used to feed them next door, give them some bread and they've always been so gentle.

'They weren't as big as that one, though, and they've never gone for me like that. This one seemed to target me. It was putting its feet into me and kicking.'

Wildlife rangers were later trying to trap the kangaroo and are hoping to find out how it came to be in the vicinity - they are usually much further away from houses.

(Daily Mail - July 28, 2011)