Galveston, a small island city off the coast of mainland Texas, got a dose of Australian wildlife this week when two emus escaped a private backyard and explored the quiet coastal town. 

According to local CBS News affiliate KWTX, Galveston police officers eventually tracked down the errant birds at a local elementary school. Despite their apparent search for knowledge, the Texan emus remained unable to fly. 

After wrangling the earthbound birds — a task that we’re pretty sure is covered in the Galveston PD employee training handbook — officers quickly located their owner, a local woman who said that the emus had escaped from her backyard.

The owner told the cops that the emus had only recently relocated to the island from Houston, after the birds’ previous owner, the woman’s mother, passed away. No matter the explanation, though, Galveston police explained that housing domestic emus was against local regulations, and that the oversized birds would need to find a new home, somewhere off the suburban island.

So if you’re in the market for two curious emus to fill out your rare bird collection, or happen to be building a divine ark, there’s a woman in Texas waiting for your call.

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