University student Kristyl Pike had just left the gym and was driving along Clermont Street in Emerald when she spotted an emu running down the middle of the road about 10.30am.

The 23-year-old local said he caused quite a lot of traffic jams as he wandered along the busy road.

"I've lived in Emerald for 20-odd years, I've seen boxing kangaroos but I have never seen an emu run across the street," she said.

"He was darting across the road, he was heading east from one side of Emerald all the way to the other.

"It was causing lots of traffic, people couldn't get past him, he would dart from one lane to next.

"We know how much damage they do, we were saying, 'please don't hit our car!' "

Rumour has it there is a local emu called Eddie who likes to go walkabout, but no one could verify whether it was the roadrunner seen this morning.

"That sounds like Eddie the Emu from out on Tysons Road. She loves following tractors, especially blue and green coloured ones. Fairly friendly but hates motor bikes," a Facebook commenter wrote.

A Central Highlands Regional Council spokeswoman said it was believed the emu had wandered up a railway line from outside of town.

"He has panicked and ran straight ahead and managed to run himself into the middle of town," she said.

'We tried to do a round-up to get him onto the railway line to get him out of town but he didn't like that idea.

"At the moment he is just grazing on a big vacant block right in the built-up part of town.

"No one yet has yet claimed that it is Eddie, he hasn't been identified as Eddie as yet."

The large bird was in the vicinity of New Street and Rifle Range Road and locals were asked to take care while moving through that area.

It was believed the emu would eventually find its own way home.

"He is still on the loose and is going to be let go to see where he ends up by himself, he will find his own way home," the council spokeswoman said.

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