Disc golf net prompts emu's escape in Minnesota

Erasmus apparently escaped by jumping the fence into the treatment center's yard

MINNESOTA (Web Desk) - An emu briefly escaped from a Minnesota property after apparently mistaking a disc golf net for a potential mate, the bird's owner said.

The Washington County Sheriff's Office said in a Twitter post that deputies responded to a call about an emu on the loose in Grant and found the bird "hanging out with a homeowner eating apples."

Jaime Benner, owner of the Idylwood Equestrian Center, said the emu, named Erasmo had been pacing back and forth along the fence separating his enclosure from the back yard of the Cedar Ridge Treatment Center for a few days.

Benner said Erasmus apparently escaped by jumping the fence into the treatment center's yard.

She said the cause of Erasmus' fascination with the treatment center was apparently a disc golf net in the yard.

She told the Star Tribune newspaper the net resembles a female emu "if you squint your eyes."