A driver in West Yorkshire caught the ‘Loony Tunes’ moment when a family of emus went on the run and caused traffic chaos yesterday.
Geoff Owen, 55, had been driving through Meltham yesterday when he spotted the birds as they raced down the road at around 15mph.
Footage shows a trio of dark brown emus showing no fear as they weave through cars and bring traffic on Huddersfield Road to a standstill.
Mr Owen, from Oldham, Greater Manchester, said: ‘As I came around the corner, I saw these black heads floating in the air. I thought ‘what the hell is that?’
‘I have no idea where they could have come from. There’s no zoos around the area.
‘The fact there were three of them too, it’s not as if one could be an escaped pet.
‘It was like Looney Tunes seeing them running down the hill.
The emus, which are the second-largest living birds in the world, were so unfazed by the cars that Mr Owen claims cars were forced to sit for ‘at least three minutes’ while they ran loose between the lanes.
Motorists were brought to a halt when a family of emus invaded the rural road in Yorkshire, stopping traffic for three entire minutes
Two adult emus raced down the road to the disbelief of drivers, including Geoff Owen who managed to capture the moment
Emus are the second-largest living bird in the world and native to Australia. Drivers in Yorkshire were unsure where these birds came from
The emus eventually retreat to a field next to Huddersfield Road, allowing for traffic to finally continue
He added: ‘The adults were about 3ft-tall and quite substantially sized. It was quite a sight.
‘They were racing down the hill into the town centre and the little one was struggling to keep up. It actually got left behind and I didn’t see it again.
‘They were really striking with their big beaks. I’m glad I wasn’t a cyclist and had my car protect me – I wouldn’t fancy being pecked by those beaks.
‘You don’t expect to see that kind of thing on your way to work. When I got in, my colleagues couldn’t believe it.’
The birds were so sure of themselves they even stopped traffic before running off on to a nearby field.