Rogue emu netted after two months on the run

No one has claimed the emu and it's unknown where the bird came from before it was on the lam

By Arman Aghbali, CBC News Posted: Nov 13, 2015 5:22 PM ET Last Updated: Nov 13, 2015 7:57 PM ET

After scaring a nearby school and being shot at by a stranger, a fugitive emu has finally been caught by police and animal control in Delaware after at least 66 days on the run.

On Thursday afternoon animal control officers and Delaware State Police surrounded the 1.8-metre-tall bird, known to locals only as Eddie, near a housing development in Stonefield. 

"The emu is very happy. It's very content," Dan Stonebraker told CBC News. Stonebraker owns the 3 Palms Zoo & Education Centre in Clayton and often assists in capturing loose animals.

It took three tries to capture the bird, and on the second escape, Eddie jumped into a man's backyard. Once they had the bird cornered along the backyard fence, co-owner of the 3 Palms Zoo, Matt Shaffner, threw a net over the animal. 

"I've seen on the news that there was an emu on the loose, but I didn't suspect it was around here,"  Tom Curley told CBS Philadelphia, after they caught the bird in the woods behind his house. 

Stonebraker helped move Eddie into the trailer and has transferred the bird to a secure facility. He described that once the bird was surrounded by four walls and a blanket, it immediately calmed down.

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Shifts In Habitat May Threaten Ruddy Shorebird’s Survival

Guided by biologists, volunteers briefly catch, band and release some of Delaware’s visiting red knots each spring to monitor the health of the species.

Maggie Starbard/NPR

An intrepid bird called the red knot migrates from the southern tip of South America to the Arctic and back every year. But changes in climate along its route are putting this ultramarathoner at risk.

The federal government has proposed to list the red knot as threatened on the endangered species list, because of the risk of extinction the bird faces over its 9,300-mile journey, largely because of climate change.

“You know, this bird is facing any conceivable difficulty from Terra del Fuego [Argentina] all the way to the Arctic,” says Kevin Kalasz, a biologist who manages the shorebird project for the Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife. Kalasz has studied red knots for more than a decade.

Kevin Kalasz, a biologist with the shorebird project, on the lookout for red knots amid the gulls and other birds.

Maggie Starbard/NPR

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Hawk chicks rescued from I-495 bridge

Melissa Nann Burke, The News Journal9:26 a.m. EDT July 14, 2014

A pair of baby raptors, still too young to fly, were safely moved from nest atop piers

(Photo: TRI-STATE BIRD RESCUE )

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Red-tail hawks are also protected under federal law, so state officials sought a salvage permit from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

The hope is the fledglings' parents can provide additional support while the juveniles are learning how to hunt

As emergency repairs got underway at the I-495 bridge in Wilmington last month, crews found a surprise nestled 60 feet above the ground within the structure – a pair of baby raptors, still too young to fly.

Their mother had built a stick nest on a steel grate between the concrete pier caps, just below the travel lanes next to the Christina River. It probably seemed like a safe place to raise a family – until a lot of heavy machinery, drills and cranes started arriving in early June.

Continued