THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 27, 1996 TAG: 9609270523
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KATRICE FRANKLIN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: 45 lines
Thanks to a state biologist with a tranquilizing gun, Beep Beep is back home.
The emu - called Beep Beep by her owner after the Road Runner cartoon character - was found lying in a field about 8 p.m. Wednesday, three days after residents began calling police about spotting the strange creature.
The hunt for the 5-foot-5, 100-pound bird took her owner, friends and city workers around a half-mile area but ended close to her cage on Hosier Road.
In the past few days, she had been spotted on White Marsh Road, Skeetertown Road and near the Great Dismal Swamp.
``She was headed back in this direction,'' said Shawne Bryant, Beep Beep's owner. ``We found her next to a field on White Marsh Road.''
The brownish-gray, ostrich-like bird, which can un up to 40 mph, had been spotted Wednesday near the runway of Suffolk Airport. But when animal control officers went to rescue her, she took off for the woods.
Her owner and several friends continued the search all day Wednesday. At 8 p.m., they got lucky. Minutes after being struck by the tranquilizing dart, Beep Beep was unconscious.
``She was barely out long enough for us to get her into a trailer and back home,'' Bryant said. ``She was wobbly at first, and the others (emus) knew something was wrong because they all gathered around her.''
Mike Simpkins, public information officer for the Suffolk Police Department, said the agency is getting used to chasing exotic creatures.
``We've had similar incidents with cattle, bulls and buffaloes,'' Simpkins said. ``We've had bulls running up and down Main Street. . . .
``This is the first for an emu. In each one of these experiences, we learn something new.''
Bryant said she plans to increase the height of the fence surrounding her eight emus from 5 feet to 6 feet.
After lunch Thursday, Beep Beep was running around the cage, peeking out each side of the fence.
Anytime someone got close, though, she ran away.
Of course. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
JOHN H. SHEALLY II/The Virginian-Pilot
Owner Shawne Bryant of Suffolk feeds Beep Beep. by CNB