click to enlarge - Courtesy of VINE Sanctuary
- Tiki the emu
After nearly a month on the run, Tiki the emu has been brought safely back to his home at VINE Sanctuary in Springfield, Vt.
The 26-year-old emu, a massive ostrichlike species of bird native to Australia, escaped from VINE one night in early July after being startled by a one-two combo of thunder and fireworks. Pattrice Jones, cofounder of the sanctuary, said the normally docile creature most likely jumped the fence in a panic and was gone in the morning.
Tiki was brought to VINE — an LGBTQ-led farmed animal sanctuary with a focus on environmental justice — in 2012, along with his son, Breeze. The two emus previously lived on a small hobby farm in Grand Isle where Jones said they had little room to roam. At VINE, though, Tiki and Breeze enjoy an ample amount of space.
That said, Tiki didn’t seem to be in too much of a rush to return home after his great escape. The emu was spotted about a dozen times within a two-mile radius of the sanctuary, according to an interactive Google map the sanctuary created and shared with neighbors. Residents of Springfield worked together to keep tabs on Tiki’s comings and goings, posting on Facebook and Twitter to update each other on his whereabouts. And a number of the sanctuary's neighbors went out of their way to purchase emu food — a protein mix in pellet form — in case Tiki showed up at their house.
“We think he’s not lost and trying to get home but is, in fact, really enjoying tramping through the woods,” Jones said a couple of days before Tiki was captured.
click to enlarge - Courtesy of VINE Sanctuary
- Tiki with other feathered friends
Emus are omnivorous and eat leaves, bugs and the occasional mouse. Tiki seemed to be faring just fine in the woods, maintaining a healthy weight throughout his escapade.
“It's just such a mix of feelings for us,” Jones said before Tiki’s rescue. “He’s really fine. What he wants is to just roam freely, and it breaks my heart that we can’t let him do that.”
With hunting season on the horizon, Jones and her team knew that they would eventually have to get Tiki back home to keep him safe. But that proved more difficult than anticipated due to the emu’s tragic past.
While living in Grand Isle, Tiki’s “partner” — Breeze’s mother — ran away and was so startled by a rescuer that she had a heart attack and died.
With that in mind, the VINE team took their time with Tiki, waiting until he ended up in a neighbor’s gated backyard on Wednesday evening. Cheryl Wylie, VINE’s animal care coordinator, sat with Tiki for hours, feeding him emu food until he eventually fell asleep. Then she carried him into a van, where he sat on her lap during the drive home.
Back at VINE, Tiki is doing well and seems happy to be back with Breeze. He’s been extra chatty, with plenty of tales of adventures to share with his son.
“We’re just so grateful to all of the people in Springfield who kept an eye out for Tiki,” Jones said. “It was a true community endeavor."