WICHITA, Kan., April 6 (UPI) -- Someone in Kansas is missing an emu that two dogged Wichita men chased through the suburbs and finally wrestled down, the Wichita Eagle said Wednesday.
The mayhem started Monday morning when suburban Bel Aire police received a report of a very large, gray-brown feathered creature strutting around. They in turn notified Ron Pitschmann, vice principal of Sunrise Christian Academy, which keeps a menagerie of animals, including two emus.
He and other school officials joined the chase with landscape netting, but could barely keep up with the galloping 6-foot-tall, 125-pound emu, which is a smaller cousin of the ostrich.
Finally Pitschmann and school coach Kyle Lindsted succeeded in cornering the bird. Pitschmann brought it down with a flying tackle, and held onto its head while Lindsted tried to secure its long, powerful legs. However, the bird did manage to get a sharp kick in to Pitschmann's chin, as well as raking his arm with its long claws.
With the excitement over, Pitschmann made a startling discovery back at the school -- the bird was not from the menagerie.
"I'm hoping that someone will see the news story and say: 'Hey! That's my emu!'" he told the newspaper.
