BANGOR — Question: Why did the rooster cross the street? Answer: To get to Momma Baldacci’s Italian Restaurant, of course!

The monthlong saga of Ricardo, the renegade rooster, came to a happy end Thursday, but not before the crafty creature had built up a considerable following at Momma Baldacci’s Italian Restaurant, a place he frequented daily.

“I’ll miss him,” said one waitress, looking out the window as Ricardo was dispatched to a local farm following an eventful midmorning chase. She was one of several employees who had fed the rooster up to three times daily when he crowed for his breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Three concerned citizens — Suzanne Flood, Lynn LeClair and Steven Santarpia — deployed nets and finally captured the wayward bird in a bush adjacent to the restaurant.

The trio said they all work for Community Health and Counseling Services, and said the rooster was bound for a group home at a farm in Levant.

Ricardo had survived a month of crossing Broadway, a busy four-lane city street, at least twice a day to reach the restaurant, which is on Alden Street. He came from a field near an Interstate 95 ramp, which he apparently called home.

Gerry Baldacci, one of the restaurant proprietors, theorized that Ricardo joined the neighborhood a month ago after escaping a cage on a truck that might have been hauling him to a local farm from an auction.

No matter how the rooster made it to the city, he quickly made his presence known. If cars didn’t stop for Ricardo — and most did — he simply flew over the hoods, according to Baldacci.

Ricardo had eluded the nets of local animal control officers. Passers-by threw him french fries. Life was good.

The fattened rooster’s escapist tendencies apparently waned Thursday, possibly because he was taken up with the tizzy of preparations made to capture him.

Three nets came at him at the same time. People chased him into a field adjacent to the restaurant, then followed him across a lot to Alden Street, a little side street off Broadway, and into a bush. The bird was caught, a whoop of victory was sounded, then he slipped away again, wings flapping.

A caravan of kindhearted, if slightly predatory, humans followed the rooster — the net-equipped trio, a panting reporter and a running photographer flashing pictures every step of the way.

Three nets pounced on Ricardo for the second time that day and held him secure. The bird was not harmed, although his ego seemed a bit bruised. He was put into a spacious cage where, appearing stunned at his capture, he stood rock still.

The animal-loving trio transported Ricardo, with restaurant proprietor Baldacci’s consent, to his new country home, where plenty of grain and plenty of hens reportedly awaited him.

The restaurant crew and patrons will miss their feathery mascot, but Baldacci said he is relieved Ricardo won’t be tempting fate by crossing Broadway twice daily anymore.

“There are happy endings after all,” Baldacci said.