July 10 Update: EMU RECAPTURED IN BURLINGTON
A roving emu dubbed “Big Bird” by neighbors during two weeks on the loose is back home. Robert Johnson of Bellemont showed up in a Burlington neighborhood Thursday to collect his bird after two weeks of freedom. While the bird was at large, “emu sightings” abounded in Burlington. One neighbor said the bird ate half a bag of dog food during the past week. But the bird’s freedom ended Thursday. Police cornered the bird but it took a good hour to get the big bird into a trailer. Johnson said emus are typically gentle creatures, as long as they don’t feel cornered. He said his bird eats livestock pellets and has become one of the family pets.(Source: MSNBC Channel 17 Raleigh / Durham, NC)
(Source:Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel - June 30 1998)BURLINGTON, N.C. (AP) _ Authorities have been on the trail of a big bird that's been seen wandering around town during the past two weeks.Three emu sightings have been reported to the Alamance County Sheriff's Department in the past two weeks, but deputies haven't found any loose birds, said Sgt. Ann Park of the department's animal control unit. The large, flightless birds have razor-sharp claws and are very dangerous, she said.
``It's still on the loose,'' said Burlington Police Capt. Steve Lynch, who saw the bird Saturday near a service station. Lynch said he thought the long-necked, long-legged, 4-foot tall bird was an ostrich, but a fellow officer told him it fit the description of an emu. The bird disappeared in a nearby field, he said.
Later that day, a passerby tried to lasso a big bird seen near the former Shea's Restaurant building, Lynch said. The department received three calls about the creature Saturday. Police haven't been able to determine who owns the bird or where it came from. No one has reported a missing emu, added Lynch.
