Caution: Emu is Armed and Dangerous

If you live in Calvert County, Md., you just might have a new predator to worry about.

Animal Control is warning the public that an emu has been seen spotted in the Huntingtown area.

The calls started coming in around Thanksgiving, reporting the emu to be in the Dunkirk area. Animal Control Officers haven't been able to catch the bird. Emus can stand up to six-and-a-half feet tall and can run up to 30 miles per hour.

Emus are natives of Australia.

Maryland is... not Australia.

So why is there an emu running around the Old Line State? "At this time, the owner of the emu has not been identified," said a release from the sheriff's office.

Be warned that the emu is armed and dangerous... OK, actually, it's footed and dangerous. (And sorry, but we just couldn't help ourselves.

According to the sheriff's office:

If you spot the emu, please do not try to approach it as it uses its feet to defend itself. The feet have toenails that are like a knife and combined with its powerful legs, can cause severe injury.

Citizens are asked to contact the Animal Control Unit at 410-535-1600 Extension 2526 or 911 if the emu is in the roadway or creating some other type of emergency situation. If ACOs are able to get the emu contained in a fenced in area, they can arrange for safe transport back to the owner or to another safe location.

We don't know why the emu escaped or what the heck it's out there doing. But we do know there are 176,000 results for "emu burger recipe" on Google, so maybe it knew what it was doing by making a break for it.

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/weird/Caution-Emu-Is-Armed-and-Dangerous-112959104.html