Bucky and Pancho are back in Vanilla Ice's posse.
The onetime rap star regained custody of his beloved Bucky Buckaroo, a 60-pound pet wallaroo, and Pancho, a goat, on Friday. The duo had been locked up for a week by animal control officers in Port St. Lucie, Florida, after the critters escaped from the backyard of Ice's grandmother's house and went on a walking tour of the town.
"He called me and said that he got both of his pets back and was extremely happy that he didn't have to give them up," Ice's manager, Tommy Quon, told E! Online Monday.
The 36-year-old Vanilla Ice, whose real name is Robert Van Winkle, was reunited with Bucky and Pancho after forking over a $220 fine and promising officials to get his permits in order.
"He was ecstatic, and the animals reacted to him when they saw him," Port St. Lucie Animal Control supervisor Melissa Behres told the Palm Beach Post.
Bucky, however, almost didn't make it out of the slammer. Ice still needs to renew his license for the wallaroo--a cross between a kangaroo and wallaby that is classified as an exotic animal by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Luckily for the Ice man, Michael Poggi, the breeder who sold the rapper the 'roo for $2,000, has the requisite permit to keep exotic pets and agreed to take care of Bucky until Ice takes care of his paperwork.
Aside from paying for the permit, Ice will likely have to pay fines for the wallaroo's escape.
News of his pets' sojourn forced the rapper to Florida from California, where he was doing a commercial shoot and working on reality series, most recently the WB's Surreal Life.
"My kids were crying, thinking we lost them," Ice told the Post. "My wife kept this from me for a couple of days and tried to find them herself. She had people out on bikes all over looking for them."
Per the "Ice Ice Baby" purveyor, the critters made a fast getaway on Nov. 13 after Pancho purportedly head-butted the latch on the backyard gate. The wallaroo then followed the goat to freedom...and headlines.
"He uses his head to ram open the gate to get out," Ice told the newspaper. "They usually don't run away. We let them run around in the backyard all the time."
But runaway--er, rather hopped away in Bucky's case--they did.
After cruising the neighborhood and nearby woods, the odd couple came upon a woman, who tipped off animal control after Bucky scratched her and kicked her car when she tried to feed him. The animals were subdued and locked up.
It wasn't until last Wednesday, when Ice reported Bucky and Pancho missing, that authorities figured out who the creatures belonged to.
"They won't be back in St. Lucie ever again," Vanilla Ice vowed to the Post.