AUBURN – After dealing with a Marmaduke gone amok earlier this month, Sunday evening’s emu case was a piece of cake for Bentley Rathbun.

Of course, the fact that a dozen or so would-be Dr. Doolittles had already corralled and hogtied the flightless bird’s long, muscular legs helped. Rathbun had little left to do except put a hood over the emu’s head, wrap it in a blanket and with the help of a few of those good Samaritans, load the bird into his truck.

Rathbun is Auburn’s animal control officer. He’s the guy who finally showed up on the side of the road near where Kittyhawk Avenue and Hotel Road meet.

“We’ve called everyone,” said Cara Kendall of Lisbon Falls earlier as her husband, Bob, firmly held the emu’s roped legs.

Everyone was a pretty complete list: Auburn police and fire, Maine State Police, Androscoggin County deputies, Maine game wardens and more than one animal shelter.

“I’ve been here since 4:30 this afternoon,” Brenda Tardiff said at about 7 p.m. “No one has been here, not even a police cruiser drove by.”

Tardiff, of Auburn, was one of the first to notice the big bird wondering along the side of the busy road. She and her kids were one their way back to their campsite at Range Pond when they spotted the bird. Naturally, she said, they feared for its safety.

So did others, quite a few others during the course of the late afternoon. Finally enough passers-by stopped for them to be able get between it and the road. Later, when the bird tried to hop a fence, several of those keeping it from the road said they saw their chance.

One guy hopped on the bird’s back, while two others managed to grab hold of its legs and bring it to the ground, they said. Soon, the legs were tied and wrapped in a blanket, and the emu’s head was being cradled by Mark Libbey of Lewiston.

That’s when the group started making calls.

When Rathbun arrived, he said he was told by a dispatcher that people had captured the wayward emu.

“I didn’t believe it,” he said. He’s dealt with such birds before, he said, and they can be tough to bring down.

He estimated this emu to be a yearling, far from full-grown, when it will stand 5-feet at the shoulders, weigh upwards of 200 pounds and be able to trot along at 30 miles per hour.

Rathbun said he would bring the bird to a deer farm operated by a friend of one of those who had joined in saving the emu from a run-in with traffic.

“That’ll be temporary,” he said. “And I’ll start looking for the owner tomorrow,” he added.

He said the owner could be charged for the cost of housing the emu, but wasn’t sure if he’d even find the person keeping the bird.

It’s been on the run for a least a day or so. Rathbun said he was called Saturday to try to track down the bird next to the Maine Turnpike, but he didn’t have a hope of capturing it there given the high traffic volume.

As Rathbun headed off with the bird secured in the back of his pickup, several of those who had helped save the emu thanked each other for their help.

All’s well that ended well, they concluded.