KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A unique animal sighting is all the talk on a Knoxville neighborhood Facebook group.
Sara Foster said she's use to seeing deer and raccoons in the South Knoxville area but what she saw just a few days before Thanksgiving made her laugh on her way down McCammon Road.
"We were out to run an errand and right down the road, I thought it was a turkey," Foster said. "Got a little bit closer. It was much too big to be a turkey and thought it was an ostrich. I rolled down my window to take a picture because how odd and strange is this? And that's what I was like, 'Hm. Is it an ostrich? Is it an emu?'"
It turns out the animal was an emu. So Foster took to Facebook to ask the neighbors if anyone was missing the large bird. As of Monday afternoon, the post had 95 comments, 43 shares and more than 200 reactions.
"I thought he was somewhat close to home. Although again, I've never seen an emu in our neighborhood," she laughed. "And lo and behold, he was across the street behind the farm. That's where he lives."
It turns out, the emu had been missing since Sunday afternoon. The bird's owners responded to Foster's post thanking her for posting the spotting.
"We looked everywhere and then on the way from running an errand, my wife saw him in the field," the owner wrote. "Wasn't easy to catch him but we got it done. Thank you for the post and looking out."
Foster said this is a good reminder for drivers to slow down this holiday week.
"It's for your safety and theirs," she said.