Brad Cieluch, who helps run a family farm in Marlboro County, told News13 on Wednesday that one of his large, flightless pet birds was last seen ambling around the Bennettsville area after breaking free of its enclosure several days ago.
That means it traveled at least eight miles within a day, as on Tuesday his feathered friend was spied along Highway 28 in Blenheim.
Cieluch said he plans to spend the holiday weekend with his father-in-law combing the area with treats in a bid to get their emu back.
“We’re going out every chance we can to try and get it,” Cieluch said. “The more people that are around it, it gets antsy. So it’s going to be me and my father-in-law all day on Saturday with treats.”
Cieluch isn’t the only Palmetto State resident who’s an emu short.
Ann Green was equal parts stunned and amused when she saw one of the creatures taking a Wednesday morning constitutional next to one of her neighbors in Lyman — a Spartanburg County town nearly 180 miles away from Marlboro County.
“This bird was very friendly,” Green said. That is until her Labradoodles saw it from the backyard and began furiously barking at the beast.
Green said the emu charged — plumage in full splendor — before an electric fence sent it back for its morning walk.
“How many emus could there possibly be on the loose in South Carolina,” Green said.
Emu, the world’s second-largest flightless birds, have a history of breaking free from their confines.
On Monday in Leander, Texas, a bird was reclaimed by its owner after ambling around the neighborhood and getting stuck in a backyard
On June 20 in Edmonton, Alberta, a group of motorists helped protect a roaming bird from traffic until animal control officials loaded it up for transport
On March 7, Buddy broke free from his owners in Weld County, Colo. A deputy grabbed the bird from the driver’s side window of his cruiser and navigated it safely back home
On February 27, deputies in St. Tammany Parish, La., got Ernie the Emu back home after it leapt from an enclosure
In November 2023, a doorbell camera in Kent, England captured an emu patiently awaiting entry to a home that wasn’t his
In July 2023, authorities in Columbus, Ohio snagged an escaped emu name Big Bird on the city’s west side
In August 2023, Turdbird embarked on a two-week jaunt around Greene County, Ind. before the irresistible allure of grapes convinced him to come back home
In April 2023, MeeMoo led Harriman, Tenn. police on an adorable 20-mile, slow speed chase
“They’re escape artists,” Cieluch said.
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