Roadrunner stows away from Las Vegas to Maine in moving van

Nov. 16 (UPI) -- Animal rescuers in Maine said a man unloading his moving van after the drive from Las Vegas discovered an unexpected stowaway -- a roadrunner.

The Avian Haven animal hospital in Freedom said in a Facebook post that a man named Gary contacted the facility when he and his son, Brian, opened the back of their moving truck at a storage facility in Westbrook and discovered a roadrunner apparently had stowed away in the vehicle before they left Las Vegas.

Volunteer Karen Silverman was dispatched to the scene and helped the father and son capture the bird.

"Shortly after Karen arrived, Brian discovered the bird hiding in a front storage area of the van. He flushed the roadrunner out into the back of the vehicle, where Karen handily netted the bird," the Facebook post said.

The roadrunner was taken to an Avian Haven facility, where it was examined.

"The roadrunner was in remarkably good shape for having been confined in the van for four days, leading us to wonder if perhaps some food items had also stowed away," the group said.

Avian Haven said officials are not yet sure whether the roadrunner is male or female.

The group said it is looking into options for returning the roadrunner to its native habitat.