Feb. 22 (UPI) -- The owner of an Alabama farm said an escaped emu was safely recaptured in a horse pasture after 12 days on the loose.

Mark Bagley said Harriot the emu escaped from the Serenity Animal Farm, on the outskirts of Clanton, Feb. 9, and was sighted numerous times but repeatedly evaded being recaptured.


Bagley said neighbor Tim Jones received word that Harriot had been spotted in a horse pasture and he rushed to the location Thursday.

Jones was able to calm Harriot by placing a sock over her head.

"I have been carrying a sock around with me in my truck this whole time just in case I needed it," Jones told the Clanton Advertiser.

Bagley said he had been worried not just for Harriot's safety but for her mate, who has been sitting on the eggs she recently laid. He said male emus sit on the eggs until they hatch, and the mother then tends to the chicks while the father goes off to eat.

He said Harriot was luckily returned to her mate before the eggs hatched.