“I could not believe my eyes …”
By Lily Feinn
Published on Oct 2, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Steve Lamplough is used to being surrounded by nature. His home outside Portland, Australia, sits on 5 acres of land, where his dogs love to run and play. They regularly see wildlife passing through, especially koalas who come to eat leaves from the massive manna gum tree in his garden, and they always keep a respectful distance.
But last week, Lamplough witnessed something he’d never seen before.
When barking drew him outside, Lamplough called for his dogs. Denni, his 9-year-old golden retriever, came running — proudly carrying a surprise on her back: a koala joey clinging to her fur.
“I couldn’t believe my eyes at first, and then I thought, ‘How the heck am I going to get it off her?’” Lamplough told The Dodo. “It was so funny watching her run, as the koala looked like a jockey bobbing up and down.”
Denni, whom Lamplough describes as “very friendly” and “affectionate,” has a strong maternal instinct. While koalas often wander through the property, she has never gotten this close before. “The dogs are usually intrigued when koalas pass by, but this is the first time anything like this has happened,” he said.
Lamplough guesses the baby might have either fallen off her mother or was off exploring when Denni came to check on her. Looking for warmth and comfort, the little joey may have mistaken the golden retriever for her mom.
“Both the baby and Denni did not look stressed and actually appeared to be enjoying each other’s company,” Lamplough said. “Denni was very excited to show me and seemed to have a chuffed look on her face.”
Koala joeys spend the first six months of their lives in their mother’s pouch, after which they begin to explore the world outside by riding on their mother’s back until they are about a year old. With breeding season running from August to February, koalas are on the move — especially around the town of Portland, where koalas enjoy the surrounding bushland and blue gum plantations.
Lamplough knew he had to separate the joey from his pup as quickly as possible. He only hoped he could break the joey’s strong grip without upsetting either animal.
“I told Denni to sit and walked behind them and put my hands under the koala’s underarms and pushed outwards so the claws became loose,” Lamplough said. “I then walked over to a tree, and after I released it, it climbed up the tree. I went back after 15 minutes, and the mum must have heard it and was up the tree with it.”
Lamplough was thrilled to see Mom and baby together again after the little one’s big adventure. And it was clear the joey picked the sweetest pup to be her babysitter. He posted the touching moment on Facebook, where it’s received a warm response.
“Having seen this interaction happen has been a unique experience and has now been also appreciated by many people around the world,” Lamplough said.
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Driver Unknowingly Documents Rare Cubs’ First Appearance In 100 Years
“I was shocked.”
Earlier this month, a man was driving through Michigan’s Upper Peninsula when he saw two wild kittens running alongside the road. Intrigued, the man pulled over to get a closer look at who he assumed were young bobcats.
As one of the cubs ran under his truck, another curious motorist also stopped to admire the babies. Both drivers took a few photos of the cats then moved on and left them alone.
“They both talked about them, like, ‘Oh, neat kittens,’” Brian Roell, a Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) wildlife biologist, told MLive.com. “And then they went along their day, not thinking anything of it.”
What the people who took the pictures didn’t realize is that they’d unwittingly documented something historic. When Roell and other DNR biologists saw the photos, they realized the babies weren’t bobcats at all — they were cougars.
Cougars, also known as pumas or mountain lions, are native to Michigan. But these days, cougar sightings in the state are few and far between. By the early 1900s, cougar populations in Michigan and many other parts of the United States were greatly reduced due to hunting.
Since 2008, there have been just over 130 cougars seen in Michigan, and some of these sightings could have been the same animal reported multiple times. According to DNR research, all of the cougars spotted since 2008 have been males traveling through the state, for whom Michigan is not their permanent home.
But now, for the first time in over 100 years, baby cougars have been seen in Michigan. Needless to say, once Roell visited the site where the cubs were photographed and confirmed the motorists’ stories, he was stunned.
“I was shocked because it just wasn’t something that I thought was going to happen,” Roell told The Dodo.
While no one spotted the kittens’ mama, she most likely wasn’t far off. It’s possible she carried her babies into the state, but the babies’ presence suggests she gave birth to her litter in Michigan.
“Really, what we need to see and what I hope to see is another picture on a trail camera with Mom and the two cubs in tow,” Roell said.
Roell and other wildlife biologists are cautiously optimistic that the sighting could be good news for Michigan’s cougars. Hopefully, more adorable kittens will be spotted very soon.
“It’s something that should be celebrated,” Roell said in a DNR press release.
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“They’re right next to … a busy road, so they could have gotten hit by a car.”
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