Why did the shag keep crossing the road?

Invercargill op-shoppers and passers-by combined to corral a flightless shag amidst braking traffic on one of the city’s busiest streets this morning.

The bird, unable to fly, startled people in Yarrow St, among them St John Op-Shop volunteer Heather Holmes, who saw it wandering outside Craigs Design and Print.

While a woman with a pram pledged to keep an eye on it, she hastened to the shop and told manager Shirley Rumler there was a shag outside walking like a penguin.

Not something that St John training has specifically covered, Rumler admitted, but the caring approach kicked in.

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She grabbed a cloth and went out to catch it while others joined in to try to keep it out of harm’s way.

It didn’t come quietly. At times, they were faced with an exasperating twist on the familiar riddle – why did the shag keep crossing the road? – but traffic was able to brake in time and eventually folk had it cornered against the Service Denim Store.

A man was able to take hold of it, the covering was tossed over it, and Rumler emerged with the bird in her arms.

Comforting it close up, she thought it quite beautiful.

“Nice, fluffy feathers.’’

It turned heads in the store – nobody made an offer – and though the shag couldn’t fly, some shag-related jokes did.

Rumler felt better about the scratches on her arm when DOC conservation officer Joseph Roberts arrived to claim it.

Its first line of defence was often to spew, he cheerfully told her.

“Obviously I wasn’t that scary,’’ she said.

DOC is checking the bird’s health.