Emu blocks traffic for two hours
NEW STANTON, Pa. (UPI) -- Pennsylvania State Police say they used a stun gun to subdue an emu that blocked traffic for about two hours near the Pennsylvania Turnpike's New Stanton exit.
State troopers said the emu, an Australian cousin to the ostrich, had become trapped Monday between 5-foot-high traffic barriers and resisted all previous attempts to catch it -- including a an attempted cowboy-style lassoing, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported
"It created a backlog of traffic," said state police Sgt. Anthony DeLuca. "Vehicles almost wrecked into each other, into the bird. We tried to chase it down and tried to catch it.
"Once it got in there it got stuck, and it didn't know what to do."
He said troopers eventually used a stun gun on the 4-foot-tall bird and moved it to the side of the roadway but it died shortly after.
"I think what happened is after about two hours of running on the roadway, it probably had a heart attack," he said.
He said authorities are still unsure of the bird's origin.
"It doesn't belong to any local farmers," DeLuca said. "We believe it might just have escaped from a truck that might have been hauling emus."
Copyright 2008 by United Press International
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