Reconsider your emu containment system.

It seems there is an emu problem in my area. Apparently, emus really like to wander around here.

Note that I don't live in Australia. I live in the D.C. metropolitan area. Where in recent months there has been an emu problem.

In the past four months, there have been three emu outbreaks. Three birds have escaped from local zoos and gone wandering around the city.

I heard about the first two on the radio on my way to work late in the summer. Right after relating something Bush said the day before and giving the morning traffic report, there was announcement that two emus had gotten loose and were wandering around the city. If you see them, please call this number.

The first one was caught within a few hours of its escape, but the second one wandered around the city for most of the day before they finally got it. Consider that those things can run about 30 mph for short bursts.

So, that added some excitement to my day as I was on the lookout for EMUS.

The third emu outbreak occured last Sunday. I'd just gotten in the car to drive home when the radio reported that some OTHER emu had gotten loose and broken into some guy's house. Apparently it puttered around the kitchen and lounged around the living room for a few hours until they came to pick it up.

Imagine coming home to find a six and a half foot bird on your living room couch.

I mean, okay, it's pretty common for, say, deer to break into houses around here. But you know, deer LIVE HERE. They're all over the damn place. If this were, say, AUSTRALIA then possibly a rash of emu sightings in the city would make sense.

But no, you see, this is the American Northeast. And yet our citizens are not safe from emu breakins.

I'm starting to think that maybe the zoos around here need to reconsider their emu containment system.

No, I'm not inordinately amused that I now have an "emu" AND a "skunk" tag.