Follow that bird: Authorities, owner seeking escaped emu
Free as a bird, a large, feathered emu is now running amok across state lines and his owner needs your help to find him.
The 6-foot-tall, 130-pound emu - a type of bird native to Australia - is on the run in the area, and his owner has issued a plea for anyone who spots him to call animal control immediately so he can be brought home safely.
The missing bird is Emer, a rescued male emu who is a resident of Sweet Binks Farm, a private, nonprofit animal sanctuary in Foster, R.I.
The last confirmed sighting of Emer was Dec. 5 in Burrillville, R.I., near Mendon. It is believed he has crossed into Massachusetts and could be in the Mendon and Blackstone Valley area, or even further north.
“When he was in Burrillville viagra, he was only about 4 miles from the state line,” said Pam Hood, who owns and operates Sweet Binks Farm and Sweet Binks Rabbit Rescue. “The fact that we haven’t had a sighting in six days, it’s very possible at the rate he’s been moving that he is in Massachusetts.”
Emer has white and dark brown plumage, with a black neck and blue skin on his face.
Also affectionately called Papa Em, Emer escaped from his corral three weeks ago, along with his mate, Mama Em, and 2-year-old offspring, Baby Em, after an accommodating corral mate - a pig named Charlotte - set the emu family up for their escape by nudging the gate hinge up and allowing the gate to swing open.
Mama Em and Baby Em were both recovered.
Hood said she is concerned about Emer’s safety with the possibility of temperatures falling below freezing at any time.
Emus do adapt to cooler temperatures, and they don’t have any natural predators in the New England woods, she said, but dehydration due to water freezing over, and starvation, are real concerns.
Domestic dogs, traffic and hunters are also worries, Hood said.
“Emus have powerful legs and they can deliver a powerful kick,” she said, noting that predators such as coyotes are no threat to Emer. But he is “very, very frightened of dogs.”
“A dog barking at him will put him on the run, and he won’t stop for 4 or 5 miles,” Hood said.
Hood said Emer is greatly missed by his human and emu families, especially with a new emu on the way.
“When he came to me, he was only a baby. He was only knee high, so he’s grown up here (at the farm),” Hood said. “He’s part of the family and he has a family. And his mate has laid an egg.”
Emer’s extended absence is a concern not only for his own well-being, but also that of his un-hatched offspring.
“Male emu actually sit on and incubate the eggs,” Hood explained.
Mama Em laid the egg on the day of the family’s escape on Nov. 22, so Emer hasn’t had any time with it.
“If Emer started setting on the egg today, the baby would likely hatch in about 50 days,” Hood said.
She said she has been keeping Emer’s egg in a temperature-controlled setting, but it’s no substitute for Emer’s warm, feathered body. “It (the egg) is not going to be good much longer,” Hood said, noting “as each day progresses, the viability of the egg declines.”
Earlier this week, there was one possible sighting reported from Norfolk, but that has not been confirmed.
“They can travel many miles cialis each day and Pam got a call with a sighting from two days ago from Norfolk,” Norfolk resident Ellen Friedman, a volunteer at Sweet Binks Rabbits Rescue, noted on yesterday.
While there is some doubt Emer made it all the way to Norfolk, since there was only one report, she noted, “we have to take all calls seriously.”
She said there is an alpaca farm in Norfolk and it’s possible an alpaca may have been mistaken for the emu - a common mistake, according to Hood.
Friedman said animal control officers and police departments in area towns, including Norfolk, have been notified of Emer’s at-large status.
“He may still be bordering Rhode Island and Massachusetts, but if he crosses, it is only a matter of miles and people need to know to call their animal control officer so that Pam can be notified and so that a team can come in to tranquilize and get him safely in a trailer,” said Friedman.
Mendon Police Chief Ernest Horn and his department are among authorities now on high Emer alert, since their town is nearest to the emu’s last known siting.
“We haven’t seen it (the emu), but it wouldn’t be all that unusual,” said Horn yesterday. “We have a zoo here in town, so we’ve seen some pretty strange things.”
Cold as ice
Hood stresses that by no means should anyone try to contain Emer themselves. She urges anyone who sees him to call her or their loc …
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