Police Capture Pair Of Runaway Emus In Coastal Texas

GALVESTON (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — Police in coastal Texas have captured a pair of runaway emus that were on the lam for a day after escaping their owner's backyard.

Emus aren't permitted in Galveston, but police say a man recently brought the large, flightless birds to the island after the death of his mother. She'd owned them at her home near Houston.

Fully grown emus can be 6-feet tall, weigh 150-pounds and run 55 miles an hour.

The Galveston County Daily News reports the emus escaped their new owner's backyard sometime Monday. Police recaptured the birds near an elementary school Tuesday morning.

Officials say the birds' owner didn't realize Galveston had a ban on emus and that he's working with authorities to find an off-island home for them.

Five years ago, a blocks-long chase of a stray emu in Waxahachie ended with police having to put the animal down for attacking a human.

Authorities never determined who owned the stray bird.