Six-Foot Emu On The Loose In Northampton County

by Todd Quinones

WALNUTPORT, Pa., (CBS) - An emu on the loose isn't something you see every day.

"I looked out and my first thought was 'oh my God, look how big that turkey is'," Bob Leseberg said.

When Leseberg went outside to take a closer look, he realized this was an emu and it suddenly stood straight up.

"It's taller than me and I'm 6'3" and he was looking down at me. I was thinking 'oh my God I don't know anything about emus and this probably is not the smartest thing I've ever done'," he said.

Leseberg has no idea where the emu came from and how it found its way to his backyard in Walnutport, Northampton County Tuesday night.  But with the help of a neighbor he decided to make a collar out of a rope and catch it.

"I'm there like a dope with a rope thinking 'okay I'll try and get it over without getting pecked'," Leseberg said.

He brought the emu to a neighbor who has an old kennel and a high fence, but it turns out finding a home for a lost emu is harder than Bob thought.

"We checked with animal control officers, I talked to the Lehigh Valley Zoo, the police have been checking. I don't know where the lost and found for emus is," Leseberg said.

The flightless birds are originally from Australia, and there are some emu farms in the region, but so far no one has claimed this wayward bird.

"He was calm. Somehow I think it knew I was trying to help it. He never tried to peck me," Leseberg said.

For now, this big bird is on its way to an emu farm in the Poconos.