CIRCLEVILLE – It must be great to have Donna Geidel as your Elementary School Principal. Having pushed her younger students this past month to buckle down to doing homework, she arranged a treat that was both a break from the classroom and an interesting look at a distinctly unusual kind of wildlife here in New York State.

Walking through Pakanasink Elementary to get to the back door, the air was full of one word: "kangaroo." Because, of course, Donna Geidel had promised to kiss one.

And behind the school, in a large-ish carrier guarded by Heather and Jessica Iannucci, was Mouse, a six year old female kangaroo. The Iannucci family founded Two By Two Zoo in 1993 as a "travelling zoo with an educational mission." Among the animals they take to events all over New York and the northeast United States are a black panther, a ring-tailed lemur, a pot-bellied pig, a Syrian brown bear, and any one of several kangaroos.

"Mouse is a star performer," said Heather Iannucci. "She's also carrying her third joey." Being a marsupial mammal, Mouse gives birth to very small babies that are then carried in her pouch for several months until they are big enough to get around on their own.

Mouse seemed pretty calm, despite the presence of a hundred or so school kids, who were anything but.

Mrs. Geidel had their attention though, and before letting them see Mouse, she spoke to them about homework and asked selected students what was most important about homework. After eliciting responses about neatness and correctness, Mrs. Geidel asked Heather Iannucci to let Mouse out into the enclosure.

Mouse hopped into the closed off space and for about half a minute you could almost have heard a pin drop as a hundred or more pairs of young eyes stared at her. Mouse didn't seem to worry about it.

"She's been everywhere," said Heather Iannucci. "She's used to the attention."

Then came the big moment. Mrs. Geidel entered the closed off ring with Mouse and bent down to say hello. Kangaroos exchange sniffs of each other's noses to greet each other, and they do much the same thing with people. And so Principal Geidel "kissed" Mouse the kangaroo.

For the record, Mouse didn't mind at all. However, her joey stayed in the pouch, probably because of the noise of a hundred excited youngsters so close by.

"Next week, she's got two high schools," said Heather Iannucci as cameras clicked and whirred to record the event. Mouse, meanwhile was more interested in her peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

"Oh, that's her favorite," said Heather.

COMMENTS about this article (0)