An emu led Houston police on a low-speed trot Thursday morning - yes, you just read that correctly - before the big bird was taken into custody and reportedly returned to its rightful owner.
Only in Houston!
According to HPD, the call dropped at 3:50 p.m. as a traffic hazard and officers were dispatched to the scene. At that time, the emu was at the intersection of 16258 Imperial Valley Drive and 181 Esplanade. During the incident, the emu caused a complete stop of traffic for a period of time. The emu was captured at 4:20 p.m. and given back to its owner.
Social media lit up after several motorists captured cellphone video of the animal roaming in the Greenspoint area.
An eyewitness, Kimberly Kelly Pruitt, sent KPRC 2 video of the bizarre event.
“I was driving down Aldine Bender in north Houston yesterday afternoon around 3:30. I saw a young lady running down the middle of the median and I was trying to figure out what was going on and then I looked ahead and saw the emu running down the street!” Pruitt explained. “The silver Cadillac was trying to move it toward the median, out of the traffic.”
Another social media user, Yvette Fleming, uploaded video to Facebook, complete with funny commentary. In Fleming’s video, you can see HPD patrol vehicles following closely behind the bird as it goes through a business parking lot.
“Do y’all see this ostrich? Somebody done lost their ostrich. He’s moving now,” Fleming could be heard saying in disbelief. “What the.... Are you? What on Earth? Y’all that is crazy.”
The emu sighting certainly brightened up the day for many people.
Here are some fun facts we gathered about the bird, courtesy of justfunfacts.com.
- The emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) belongs to a group of flightless running birds known as ratites, the most primitive of the modern bird families.
- The Emu is found only in Australia. It lives throughout most of the continent, ranging from coastal regions to high in the Snowy Mountains. However, they are most common in areas of savannah woodland and sclerophyll forest.
- The lifespan is 10 to 20 years in the wild and up to 35 years in captivity.
- The emu is the second-largest living bird by height, after its ratite relative, the ostrich.
- Emus stand from 150 to 190 cm (59 to 75 in) in height. Measured from the bill to the tail, emus range in length from 139 to 164 cm (55 to 65 in). They weigh between 18 and 60 kg (40 and 132 lb).
- Females are usually slightly larger than males and are substantially wider across the rump.
- Emus have tiny, useless wings, but their legs are long and powerful.
- They are the only birds with calf muscles.
- Their feet have three toes and fewer bones and muscles than those of flying birds.
- Emus have three toes on each foot in a tridactyl arrangement, which is an adaptation for running and is seen in other birds, such as bustards and quails. The ostrich has two toes on each foot.
- They can travel long distances at a fast trot and can sprint at 48 kilometers (30 miles) per hour for quite a distance. While running, the emu’s stride can be almost 2.7 meters (9 feet) long.
- Their strong legs also allow the bird to jump 2.1 meters (7 feet) straight up.
- They are also good swimmers – in fact they love to play in water or mud.
- Emus are diurnal birds and spend their day foraging, preening their plumage with their beak, dust bathing and resting.
- Emus are omnivores. They eat seeds, fruit, bark, nuts and stems. They also eat insects, small reptiles, amphibians and other small animals that they can handle.
- They swallow small stones (called gastroliths or gizzard stones) which stay in the gizzard and help grind up food.
- They require a large amount of water, drinking 9-18 litres (2.5-5 gallons) daily. If not disturbed, they may drink continuously for ten minutes.
- Usually solitary, emus can form enormous migratory flocks when moving toward better food resources.
- Although Emus are not very social, they have a curious and docile nature.
- Emus have good eyesight and hearing, which allows them to detect threats at some distance.
- Males construct a rough nest in a semi-sheltered hollow on the ground, using bark, grass, sticks and leaves to line it.
- To protect themselves from predators, the Emu’s main defence is a swift kick or two using their powerful legs.
- An emu’s body contains 13.5 liters (3 gallons) of oil. Emu oil is used in lotions, soaps, shampoo, and health care products.