By SANDY McGEE

BLACKSTONE — Birdwatchers might have done a double-take this weekend if they spotted the world’s second-largest bird walking around one local neighborhood.

A six-foot tall emu with a mix of gray and black feathers and a black beak was reported to police on Sunday around 12:41 p.m. Police received several phone calls stating that an emu was seen walking around neighbor’s yards along Residential Lane.
“There were a lot of calls,” said Millville Animal Control Officer Gary Fagan. “It was just running around the street, in neighbors’ yards, in and out of the woods and up to people’s houses.”
One resident apparently even visited the Blackstone Police Department on Sunday with a picture to further prove the appearance of the native Australian creature.
Police and Fagan responded to the area, where they discovered the bird’s owner, Suzy King of 21 Residential Lane, and another person attempting to catch the emu. The flightless birds are capable of sprinting 30 mph.
“She (King) was first trying to walk it back to her house and couldn’t keep up with it,” Fagan said. “They were trying to get it back into her truck. It was putting up quite a fight. He didn’t bite, but he tried to escape. It ended up being a wrestling match.”
According to the animal control officer, it took King and another person about 30 to 45 minutes to catch the feathered creature. “The owner had quite the time trying to get it into her truck,” Fagan said.
They were eventually able to safely secure the bird inside the vehicle. The male emu, which is named “Ryan,” was later returned unharmed to its pen, but not before giving local homeowners quite a show.
According to the local animal control, the emu apparently escaped from an opening in its pen, which is located on King’s land on Residential Lane, less than a quarter of a mile from the location of the bird’s capture.
A tree had also assisted with Ryan’s escape when it fell on a wooden fence surrounding the property. The emu was then able to leap over the lowered fence.
King, an animal enthusiast, houses and cares for several exotic species and domestic breeds at her more than 65 acre property on Residential Lane. Her family of animals includes horses, dogs, two Royal Palm turkeys, turtles, fish, chickens, roosters and reptiles. She has lived on Residential Lane for 11 years.
King adopted Ryan about four years ago from a farm, where he had become involved in a fight with other emus. The fight had left the bird with injuries and the loss of feathers, which are still growing back to this day.
The animal control officer said this was the first emu he has seen while working in Blackstone and Millville. “I see the usual skunks and foxes, but not emus,” Fagan said.
Emus are the second largest birds in height in the world, second only to the ostrich. The flightless birds can travel great distances and maintain a vegetarian diet of plants and insects. They usually avoid heavily populated areas, dense forests and dry locations.
The birds are believed to be prehistoric, originating nearly 80 million years ago in Australia. Emus were extremely important to Aborigines, who relied on the bird for food, clothing, medicine and spiritual nourishment.