Emu on the Loose

A co-worker of mine was missing from work for a day. When she returned she told us she was gone because she "was chasing an emu."

We stared at her for a moment, wondering if this was the grown-up version of "my dog ate my homework."

It turns out she was serious. She really did own an emu.

Emu-Hunter received a phone call from her neighbor, who told her the emu was wandering around, unfettered. She went outside with some food, and tried to lure the emu back. Instead, it ran across the road (insert bad joke here) and escaped into a large field. It ran around the field, afraid to cross the road again.

Emu-Hunter and her housemate decided to chase it down with a 4-wheeler. The housemate drove, while Emu-Hunter held on for dear life, and waved a stick with a loop, trying to lasso the emu. Unfortunately, the 4-wheeler had a top speed of 28 mph, while the emu was able to run at about 30 mph.

Needless to say, the emu escaped, so they called animal control.

Later that afternoon, Emu Hunter got a call, telling her the emu was spotted 3 miles away from home. It had wandered onto the property of a woman who was bird-phobic, and the poor lady nearly had a nervous breakdown when she found a giant human-sized bird in her yard.

This time, Emu-Hunter and her housemate were able to catch the emu, put a sock over its head (to calm it down I suppose), and herd it into the back of a truck.

I hope the emu learned a lesson. Whenever it escapes, its owner will put a dirty sock over its head, after chasing the emu in the aforementioned sock.