The following was submitted to us by Tim Sager of Erdenheim. His escaped emu was the talk of the town -- in both Chestnut Hill and Erdenheim. He does a great job here of relating his own story. Here it is.

At 6:30 on Saturday morning, I woke up in Erdenheim when my cell phone rang.  A friend called and told us one of our emus had gotten out and was roaming freely in Chestnut Hill.  With the alertness of anyone at 6:30a.m. on a Saturday, and in disbelief that one of our emus could stray so far (having never done so before), I completely discounted the story and fell back asleep. 

At 8:00 a.m., someone else rang our doorbell and gave us a similar story.  Slightly more alert, I thought this might merit at least an investigation to see if all our birds were in their pens.  A quick look outside revealed three lines of fencing knocked over and one of our birds missing.  Uh oh!   

I grabbed the car keys and, fearful that someone would harm the animal, called the Philadelphia police to report that my Big Bird was roaming the Hill.  The operator not only took my message but stated that a few police teams had already cornered it in a backyard near Gravers Lane. 

I drove with considerable urgency to the location and found a number of Philadelphia police cars parked on Gravers, lights flashing, and even more police congregated in a backyard on the street.  One police officer had a tool used to catch dogs, but which they had correctly concluded was not a good idea for emus.  A few others were on their phones searching for any information on emus.  As the officers did their homework to determine the best tactic to corral an emu, one officer correctly noted that emus are the second largest birds in the world. 

I discussed the matter with the police officers and said that the best way to deal with the situation was not to chase or grab the animal, but rather to guide it home on foot. The officers were eager and happy to help, and we, as a group, accompanied my pet on a not very leisurely "stroll" back home.... about a mile and a half away.

After some early detours when the bird decided that walking in a straight line was not his thing, the police and I got into a well-coordinated rhythm.  Some of the police officers jogged with me, side by side with the emu, while the police cars escorted us, cutting off side streets.  Neighbors watched along the way and encouraged us all as we made progress. 

We maneuvered the 6-foot-tall flightless bird up the Hill onto Evergreen and the police stopped traffic on Stenton as we crossed (clearly a hair and feather raising intersection).  Once we got across Stenton, I thanked the Philadelphia police officers for their extraordinary and kind efforts and expected that they would call the job done, handing things over to the Springfield Township police who were also helping. 

However, the Philadelphia officers insisted on keeping the escort going, along with the Springfield Township police officers.  We successfully made the turn on Montgomery. The police stopped traffic on Paper Mill so that we could safely hit the home stretch and finally arrived in one piece (panting and exhausted) back at the emu's home.  The bird was safe and presumably happy that the ordeal was over! 

There are so many ways that this whole affair, like a bird, could have gone south, but with the help of the Philadelphia and Springfield police, this story had an extremely happy ending.  The animal is back and safe, the fences are repaired, and I have almost recovered from the long, hot and stressful run.

A huge thank you to the wonderful police officers who helped us with this unusual event - and to all the friends and neighbors who helped as well.  It was quite an unusual morning, to say the least (hopefully that won't be repeated!), and it truly showed us that it sometimes really does "take a village"! 

-- Tim Sager, Erdenheim