Road runner! Hilarious video shows escaped EMU leading Tennessee police on 20 mile chase at speeds of up to 40mph after breaking free of his enclosure
- MeeMoo cleared the fence of his enclosure with a seven-foot vertical leap and led police on an incredible 20-mile chase through a Tennessee town
- Harry McKinney said his pet escaped on Wednesday after being spooked by construction workers logging behind his home
- Police eventually surrounded the flightless bird, which had clocked speeds of up to 40 miles per hour, and MeeMoo made it back home safely
This is the incredible moment a pet emu led police on a bizarre 20-mile chase through a Tennessee town.
The flightless birds are famed for being one of the fastest animals on the planet and MeeMoo certainly lived up to the reputation as he clocked speeds of up to 40 miles per hour.
Harry McKinney said the pet escaped from their farm in Roane County on Wednesday after being spooked by construction workers logging behind his home.
MeeMoo cleared the fence with a seven-foot vertical leap and took off running through the town of Harriman.
The Harriman Police Department quickly got involved and an incredible police chase developed over 20 miles before McKinney was able to bundle a tired MeeMoo into his truck.
MeeMoo cleared the fence of his enclosure with a seven-foot vertical leap and led police on an incredible 20-mile chase through a Tennessee town
Police eventually surrounded the flightless bird, which had clocked speeds of up to 40 miles per hour, and MeeMoo made it back home safely
McKinney did his best to follow the bird when it first escaped but he soon lost sight of it and posted an appeal on social media.
He was flooded with messages from residents who provided updates on MeeMoo's whereabouts throughout the neighborhood, which he was then feeding into the police.
McKinney told 6abc News: ‘I said “if you see my emu please let me know” and immediately we were flooded with private messages saying like “hey your emu is in my back yard” and all these videos.
‘The videos posted are pretty amazing to us but it is really the tip of the iceberg considering what is out there.
‘Everybody in the area got their own private video for this.
‘He went by a lot of the landmarks in town, he went to some popular restaurants, so it really appeared like he knew where he was going.’
A video of MeeMoo being tailed by four police cars as he ran on the road was captured by Steven McDaniel.
He said the chase caught the attention of customers at a restaurant who leapt out of their seats to watch the pursuit.
A video of MeeMoo being tailed by four police cars as he ran on the road was captured by Steven McDaniel
It started at 20 miles per hour but quickly progressed to speeds of 40 miles per hour.
McDaniel said: ‘The community coming together just for that few minutes was such a great thing to see last night.
‘There’s been a lot of comments about just how funny it was and you know everybody is wanting to meet MeeMoo now.
‘It was well worth it just to take a little video you know.’
MeeMoo was eventually surrounded by police and McKinney was finally able to collect his exhausted pet from a nearby Victorian home and got him into his truck with the help of a 'great friend'.
'We were terrified that he would get hit by a car and somebody would hit him with a tranquilizer dart, that he would hurt himself in the chase,' he added.
He later revealed on Thursday that his 'internet famous' emu escaped for a second but was quickly caught after an hour.
McKinney has now reinforced the fence and raised its height to nine feet.
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