rhea

My ongoing theme in relation to charismatic mega-fauna continues. Watch out in the near south east for this frightening large beast. This story tells us:

With its reputed ability to disembowel a human with a single blow, it is not the kind of creature one normally expects to encounter in the gentle countryside of the Home Counties.

But a swathe of Hertfordshire is on high alert for a 6ft tall bird which has escaped from its enclosure where it was kept as a pet.

The South American rhea has been on the run for a month, using its top speed of 40mph to successfully evade attempts to capture it.

Jo Clarke, the owner, said she kept four of the animals at her property in Brent Pelham, in the north east of the county, as they are good at eating weeds. The runaway creature, however, fled after apparently being spooked by a local hunt. The rogue animal – a three-year-old female – has been nicknamed “Chris”, by villagers, after the “Road to Hell” singer, Chris Rea.

Since escaping, it has been spotted in neighbouring villages up to around five miles away. The flightless bird – about the size of an ostrich – was photographed by Ray Murdoch after he stumbled across it while on a bike ride near to the village of Nuthampstead, last Thursday.