HAYS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — At first, Ray Helm thought the post he was tagged in on Facebook was a joke: a kangaroo on the loose.

But it wasn’t.

“I said, ‘Wow, this is real,” recalled Helm, the Constable for Hays County Precinct 3. Thus began the search by him and his deputies to find the creature. As part of his mission, Helm has been learning more about kangaroos, watching YouTube videos to understand what they eat and, more importantly, what to do if and when they find it.

“I told my guys if they do encounter it, it’s not friendly,” Helm said. “Just back off from it and let it go.”

The animal escaped from Trails End Ranch and had last been seen Tuesday night in Summer Mountain Ranch, an area northwest of San Marcos, before being spotted Wednesday afternoon in Summer Mountain Ranch.

Helm confirmed Wednesday night that while the kangaroo had been spotted around 2:20 p.m. that day, the animal was still at large.

On Thursday, he told KXAN “he is just running free and happy,” and added that the ranch owner will return Sunday and will figure out what to do. For now, the kangaroo is not hurting anything and is “just being free and living life.”

“This is something we’ve never dealt with,” Helm said. “We’ve had a couple alligators, mountain lions, snakes — but never a kangaroo.”