Howdy, friends, Howe Weird here, and Comedy Week has brought us a road in Devon, England, where a man and an escaped emu briefly turned traffic delay into a wrestling program. Pip asked who won. I told him the headline already answered that: the emu.
According to UPI, driver James Barker was traveling on the A381 near Salcombe when he came upon a loose emu and a man trying to steer it back toward a nearby gate. Barker pulled over, then filmed the encounter because, as he told The Telegraph, it was too funny not to record.
The video shows the man managing to wrestle the emu to the ground. For one shining moment, it looked like human strategy might defeat bird chaos. Then the emu got back up and knocked the man onto his backside. Pip says that is not a wrestling match. That is a feathered rebuttal.
After that, the emu reportedly walked back toward the gate on its own power, where an alpaca was watching the scene unfold. I do not know what expression alpacas make when judging human failure, but I imagine this one had opinions.
The bird’s owner, Mark Harrington, said the emu is named Side Neck because of how his head moves when he runs. Side Neck had apparently escaped through a gate accidentally left open. That is all it takes sometimes: one open gate, one determined bird, and suddenly a country road has a main event.
For real-world animal situations, do not try to wrestle large birds unless you are trained and have proper help. Safer farm basics include sturdy gate latches and durable work gloves. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Pip’s Take: “If the alpaca witnessed it, the emu won by unanimous decision.”
Original source: UPI — https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2026/09/28/escaped-emu-wrestling-Devon-England/1651790611221