Some Navy families in the Capehart Housing at Crescent Harbor saw quite a sight Tuesday when an emu flapped through the neighborhood.

Around noon, city of Oak Harbor animal control officers responded to the area of 1700 block of Cypress Lane to reports of the giant bird running loose, said police chief Ed Green.

The Navy contracts with the city for animal control services. Navy security also was on the scene.

“We were just driving down the road and watching the police officers trying to walk toward it,” said Nessie Chastain of Oak Harbor.

“It started running at them. It was pretty crazy.”

“I won’t lie — I laughed.”

People in the neighborhood saw the bird and posted online about seeing it loose in the past week. One military housing resident even saw a man walking it on the beach.

Emus are related to ostriches.

The flightless birds can grow to be 6 feet tall and sprint up to 30 mph.

The event didn’t end well for the emu. The officers kept it out of the roadway until the owner arrived. The owner tried to coax it with some food but the bird ended up cutting its throat with its own claw, Green said.

There are state and county rules about the types of animals people may own and an emu is not considered a wild animal, said Carol Barnes, an Island County animal control officer.

Barnes confirmed that this isn’t the first time emus have run wild in the area.

“They are difficult to capture,” she said. “Obviously, they can run faster than me and they don’t respond to dog cookies.”