A bizarre search is underway for a 150-pound emu named Lucy last seen running wild on the streets of a Vancouver Island community.
The large, flightless bird has been spotted by several likely stunned Nanaimo residents since he escaped an enclosure at his owners’ farm earlier this week.
The bird is a male, but he was given the name Lucy after he hatched 15 years ago. Owner Tim Genner considers the bird a pet and said Lucy doesn’t pose any danger to the public.
“My concerns are not so much for the public but for the bird: that it may get hit by a car, logging truck or somebody just mistaking it for something that might hurt them, which it won’t do,” he said.
Genner said Lucy was declawed at birth “because emus tend to disembowel each other at mating season.”
He’ll be difficult to track down because he’s extremely fast. Emus Lucy’s size can clock in at about 70 kilometres an hour.
“It’s very, very difficult to catch. You have to herd it into an enclosure of some sort and then close the gate,” he said.
But the feathered friend does have a weakness: grapes.
Lucy apparently loves them, and Genner said he could probably be enticed into an enclosure with them.
Anyone the prowl for the fowl should keep an eye open for a large, brown bird that is well camouflaged in the woods.
Genner is thankful for any help he can get. “We just want our little baby bird back," he said.
Anybody who has seen Lucy can call Genner directly at 250-591-6131.
