Santa Cruz County sheriff’s deputies spent part of their Saturday chasing a runaway emu through neighborhood streets, the second such bird-related traffic disruption in the area within days.
Deputies were called out to corral the bird as it darted around traffic, according to the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office. The agency addressed the incident in a social media post, noting the unpredictable nature of the job.
“When we say no two days are the same in this line of work, we really mean it. Just another day on the job… apparently ‘keeping the peace’ sometimes translates to keeping an emu out of traffic long enough for its owner to come get it,” the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office wrote.
The office was quick to clarify that this was not the same bird involved in an earlier incident handled by the California Highway Patrol. “And no this is not a repeat offender from the CHP Santa Cruz emu incident. Different bird, same agenda: wreak havoc,” the sheriff’s office said.
That earlier episode unfolded just days before, when CHP Santa Cruz officers responded to a separate loose emu after fielding multiple calls from worried drivers. “Fortunately, the Emu’s owner quickly arrived on the scene, and we managed to safely corral their feathery friend. A big shoutout and thank you to everyone who called in to help us handle this unique situation!” CHP Santa Cruz said in a Wednesday post.
In both cases, the birds’ owners arrived to retrieve their animals, and deputies and officers were able to get the emus off the roadway without further incident.
The back-to-back encounters drew plenty of online commentary, with Facebook users poking fun at the situation. “It was just making sure that homeowner had car insurance,” one commenter wrote, referencing Liberty Mutual’s long-running LiMu Emu advertising campaign, which launched in 2019 and pairs the bird mascot with a human sidekick named Doug to promote the company’s “Only pay for what you need” slogan. Another commenter joked the bird “was looking for the audition for the Liberty Mutual car insurance commercial.”
No injuries or further details about the birds’ owners were reported in connection with either incident.
