Rodney the Emu captured in doorbell cam footage while on the loose in Kent before police rescue
A pensioner in Maidstone received a shock when a video doorbell notification arrived – showing an emu peering into the lens at her front door.
The pet, named Rodney, had escaped in the appropriately-named town of Loose, near Maidstone, Kent, when he approached the front door and rang the bell.
The video shows Rodney walking up the driveway and prodding the door with his beak, before kicking a nearby plant pot.
Later, three people can be seen rescuing the animal by stalking it up the driveway. One of them then moves forward and wraps his arms around the emu, steering him to safety.
Maureen Roberts, 81, was having lunch with her daughter and “couldn’t believe it” when she saw the emu at the door on the camera.
“My dog was at home in the front room at the time,” she said. “I don’t know what he would’ve thought seeing a giant bird like that.”
Her neighbour had alerted her to the unexpected visitor but she’d dismissed their call as a prank.
“I thought she was winding me up and I laughed it off,” she added. “But it turned out she wasn’t joking.”
Kent Police Tactical Operations posted two pictures from the rescue on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Twitter This content is provided by Twitter, which may be using cookies and other technologies. To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies. You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Twitter cookies or to allow those cookies just once. You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options. Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Twitter cookies. To view this content you can use the button below to allow Twitter cookies for this session only. Enable Cookies Allow Cookies Once
They wrote: “A slightly different call for [vehicles] SD14 & YA92 this afternoon. One Emu (Rodney) from the Maidstone area safely returned to his owners.”