Near Haymarket, Virginia, "several emus tried to make a break for it," according to the Prince William County Police Dept. on their official Facebook page.

Emus are the world's second-tallest bird; they can stand 6-feet tall. Their cousins, the ostriches, can reach 9 feet. If agitated, either such birds can deliver powerful kicks.

Kicking or not, the presence of such loose animals on roads is a traffic hazard. Police Sgt. Perok told WHSV's Terry Ward that police got a call around 9 a.m. Tuesday from two different motorists reporting huge birds along the road. The emus hadn't yet gotten far; police figured they were likely less than a mile from their usual home.

For police cars to use sirens and lights could have been counter-productive: It was best to "proceed with caution and try not to spook" them, Sgt. Perok said.

Police said on the department's official Facebook page that the escaped huge flightless birds "were apprehended near Chimneys West Drive" by officers Fields and Stoll on Tuesday.

"The officers were able to find the owner and kept the animal contained until they arrived to transport it back home," Sgt. Perok said.

During the unusual roundup, "No emus or officers were harmed," police said on the department's Facebook page. On that page, police also made the most of the strange situation's pun-ny potential: they wrote that overhearing the emergency communicators' radio traffic "would have been emusing." A string of emu-puns followed in the viewer comments.

Sadly for news viewers, Prince William County does not yet use dash-cam video.

Sgt. Perok said Prince William County is diverse, having both urban and rural sectors. This call was in a rural area. In the past, Sgt. Perok said, Prince William police have responded to loose livestock and at least once to a roaming alpaca.