萌萌哒：一只以为自己是汪星人的袋鼠

When rural farmer Ashley Stewart and his wife Felicity found a baby male kangaroo on the side of the road in 2013, they had no idea that the little joey would quickly become part of their family.

2013年艾希礼·斯图尔特和他的妻子费利西蒂在公路边发现了一只雄性袋鼠宝宝，那时候他们并没有想到这个小东西会迅速成为他们家里的一员。

Two years on, the curious and friendly joey they have dubbed 'Dusty' is now so comfortable living with the couple and their dogs Lilly and Rosie on their farm, near Esperance in Western Australia, that the Stewart's are convinced he actually thinks he is a dog too.

两年来，在澳大利亚西部的埃斯佩兰斯附近的农场里，这个被他们叫做Dusty的小袋鼠温顺友好，而且非常喜欢和斯图尔特夫妻以及两条狗Lilly 和Rosie呆在一起，这让斯图尔特一家都觉得Dusty可能也是一条狗了。

Dusty rides around the property in the back of Mr Stewart's truck along with the dogs, sleeps with them on a dog bed, eats with them, asks for scratches.

出行时，Dusty和狗狗一起带在卡车的后车厢里，平时Dusty和狗狗们一起吃睡，而且和狗狗一样喜欢被人抚摸。

His unique behaviour began when Mr Stewart decided to drive down to a dam on the couple's property in Wittenoom Hills, 60 kilometres from Esperance, and loaded Lilly, a golden retriever, and Rosie, a border collie, into the truck bed.

Dusty这些特殊的举动是从斯图尔特决定开车去威特努姆的私家大坝开始形成的，那里距离埃斯佩兰斯60公里，一起去的除了Dusty还有两条狗，金毛猎犬Lilly和博德牧羊犬Rosie。

'I loaded the dogs in and he was hanging around and looking up at the truck and so I just picked him up and put him in the back with them,' Mr Stewart told Daily Mail Australia.

“出发前我把两只狗放在卡车上后，Dusty就不停地走来走去并仰头看着卡车，所以我把它也放在卡车上和两条狗呆在一起。斯图尔特说。

'I didn't think too much of it, we drove down and came back together,' he said.

“我没想那么多，我们一起开车去，然后又一起回来。

'He's been fine sitting on the back, as I don't drive too fast because I'd be worried about him jumping off. He doesn't jump in, I lift him in and out.'

“虽然我因为担心Dusty会跳下车而不敢开太快，但它在卡车后面表现很好，没有跳下来，都是我把它抱上和抱下来的。

While the adventure down to the dam has only happened a few times, Dusty, who the couple often call 'Skip', has also picked up some very canine-like habits.

就这样在来回农场和大坝的几次旅途中，Dusty逐渐养成了一些狗狗的习惯。

'He just likes to hang out with the dogs, probably because he thinks he's a dog. He eats and sleeps with them, and will wander down to the shed with them and lay around if I'm working there,' Mr Stewart said.

“它很喜欢和两条狗呆在一起，可能是因为它觉得自己也是一条狗吧。他们吃睡都在一起，也会一起去我干活的地方并在那里休息。

Dusty also has a collar, like many dogs, as a protective measure to ensure he can be found at nighttime.

和很多狗狗一样Dusty也有一个项圈，防止其在晚上丢失。

'When he was little we used to let him out during the day and he'd go off grazing and wouldn't come back at night, so we'd have to go looking for him,' Mr Stewart said.

斯图尔特说：“它小的时候我们白天把它放出去自由觅食，可它晚上不回来，所以我们得出去找它。

'We just couldn't find him as kangaroos don't make any noise and are very still,' he said.

“我们总是很难找到它，因为袋鼠很安静，不会发出大的声音。

'Once we found him he would always come back with us, so we decided to wrap somereflective tape around a collar so when we shone a torch at night we could see him'.

“每次我们找到它，它都会跟我们一起回来，所以后来我们决定给它戴一个有反光带的项圈，那样我们晚上用手电筒就能很容易找到它。

'In a rural area like this there are always kangaroos around who unfortunately get hit on the road and for various reasons orphaned joeys are found, and so we weren't sure when we took him home what would happen,' he said.

“在我们居住的乡村地区，周围经常会有袋鼠出现，有时他们会不幸在公路上被撞死，由于各种各样的原因经常能能看到失去父母的袋鼠宝宝，所以一开始我们带Dusty回来的时候并不确定会怎样。

But by the time the couple had started to feed him, and weened him off milk, he was part of the clan.

不过斯图尔特夫妇带Dusty回来后就开始喂养它，给它喝奶，当它是家里的一员。

Now, instead of milk, Dusty eats a mixture of grains, and guinea pig/rabbit food, his favourite treats are an apple or bread.

现在Dusty已经不喝奶了，而是会吃各种谷物，以及一些豚鼠粮或兔粮，它最喜欢的奖励是一个苹果或一片面包。