Escaped emu found playing in sprinkler one day later

May 6 (UPI) -- A Michigan family said their 6-foot-tall emu was found playing in another resident's sprinkler about a mile from home one day after escaping.

Sisters Susan and Kim Churchwell said their 8-year-old emu, Darwin, escaped from her enclosed yard Sunday night in Milford by unlatching a gate and neighbors were asked to keep an eye out for the flightless Australian bird.

Kim Churchwell said she and her mother, Lee Kindermann, rushed into action Monday evening when a neighbor about a mile away reported spotting the large bird running through the sprinkler in their yard.

The family said the emu was safely recaptured.

"I wouldn't say she was a fully willing participant, but she's happy to be back with her chicken friends," Kim Churchwell told Hometownlife.com of Darwin. "Rather than run away, she just lays down, and we have to wait for her to stand up."

The family said Darwin has escaped before, but the ongoing coronavirus pandemic made the latest incident seem more unusual.

"I think if anything crazy is going to happen, it will happen right now," Susan Churchwell said. "People think emus are not very smart, but people don't give them enough credit."