Nearly 48 hours after escaping from a Lisbon Falls animal refuge, a 19-year-old emu is still missing, and her caretaker has begun to worry the 5-foot bird might swim across the Androscoggin River.
Named “The Bird,” the flightless, ostrich-like creature escaped Wednesday when Janet Tuttle of the rescue organization was away in Florida, Tuttle said Thursday. Another person caring for the emu was moving it from its winter quarters to its summer residence when it bolted, Tuttle said.
Lisbon police and the town’s animal control officer have searched, and say the bird is likely in the woods between Summer Street and Edgecomb Road.
Tuttle said Friday morning that no sightings had been reported.
“They think it’s in the real thick part of the woods,” she said. “They’ve been looking, but it’s so thick and full of ticks. But [she’ll] come out somewhere.”
Tuttle said she worries that The Bird, which has swum in the nearby Androscoggin River before, might do so again, complicating any rescue.
She also worries about coyotes and that the emu will be startled, run into the road and be struck by a car.
The search has drawn attention from near and far, and a post about the escape on the Rockin’ T Equine Sanctuary and Refuge Facebook page had been shared more than 700 times by 10 a.m. Friday.
Tuttle asked that if anyone sees The Bird, that they not approach or chase her, but call 353-6581 or Lisbon police at 353-2500.
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