Etc.

Emu on loose goes 'shopping'

Wal-Mart Inc. may claim to attract a diverse clientele, but the "customer" spied in the parking lot of its West Bend, Wis., store, doesn't qualify. Just how an emu named Myron wound up there recently is unclear, but Richard Takacs, owner of the large flightless Australian bird, thinks Myron and two other emus might have been chased off Takacs's farm by a coyote. Anyhow, the other two birds never got off the property and were corraled on the Meadowbrook Market and Pumpkin Farm. Myron, meanwhile, zipped about two miles down the road to the 24-hour Wal-Mart, perhaps using the 40 m.p.h. speed for which emus are known. Store employees cornered Myron by surrounding him with – what else – shopping carts, then fed him grapes and apples to keep him calm. After being returned home, Myron was placed in a pasture where he could relax and not have to worry about bolting down the street.