Emu On the Loose
By MsTickle
@MsTickle (25180)
Australia
January 5, 2010 4:02pm CST
Several months ago a pair of young emu took up residence in a field across the road from me with a flock/herd of pet goats and sheep. They have been a real sight to visitors passing through. The field is fenced on 3 sides with the lagoon on the 4th side. There is a gate into the back yard of the people who own the sheep and goats.
The emus have taken to wandering outside the gate and onto the road where they then proceed to take a stroll up to the pub or around town...they actually came into my yard one day when I had left my gates open.
During the recent floods here, one of them got out and hasn't been able to find his way back in. Yesterday, I went for a walk to post a letter and stopped at the cafe to wish the owner, my friend, a happy New Year. I had collected some leaves as a treat for my goats and while we were talking this ruddy emu comes right up to me and susses out my leaves. Now, if you don't know...emus have a piercing stare, huge beaks and ginormous 3 toed feet with huge claws which they use to defend themselves, or attack. They are prone to peck quickly and savagely too. To say the least, I was a tad scared but he squatted down on the path and happily ate some bread.
I went on my way and was half way home when a faint noise made me look behind and here was this emu running straight for me...they run very fast (from Wiki answers:How fast can an Emu run? The average top speed of the Australian Emu is 50km an hour, or 31 mph, but they have actually been clocked at 75kph ...I freaked out!! I brushed the leaves up against my arm a few times making a noise and he veered off a few metres away from me but continued to walk beside me for a while. Then he went on his way.
Talk about walking on the wild side...lol
Have you ever had a close encounter with a wild, dangerous creature? Share your story.
8 people like this
15 responses
@thea09 (18305)
• Greece
6 Jan 10
Good grief Ms Tickle, I'd have handed over the leaves and the goat, those creatures look positively ferocious and they just wander around. I once came across two wild geese and they were daunting enough let alone a bloody great emu. I also saw a duck attack a child in the sea this summer and that was pretty brutal too and that emu looks bigger than ten attacking ducks.
Hearing your tale of horror I think the encounter I had with a dangerous snake in the house is nothing as if an emu walked in through the doors I'd be giving him my house and I'd be locked in the car outside.
2 people like this
@MsTickle (25180)
• Australia
6 Jan 10
These guys seem to have made themselves at home here and are pretty used to people. Obviously they don't feel threatened. I believe geese can be ferocious but I've never heard of ducks being so.
You should have seen my cat the day the emu came in the yard. His eyes almost popped out of his head. I threw him inside and later followed him and photographed the emu through the loungeroom window. Banjo was perched on top of the lounge watching too and every time the emu put his head up and took a step towards us, Banjo growled...it was so funny.
If one came any closer, I'd be pretty safe I reckon...I'd be shaking so much, the vibrations would scare the thing off.
1 person likes this
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
6 Jan 10
I once had an encounter with three big hissing nasty geese'
that would not let us get out of our car until we honked
and the owner came and shooed them away. the beaks can
really hurt as I had one jab a hunk of flesh out of my
shin so i hopped back in the car. we were trying to find a
fishing creek in the wilds in Alberta Canada and droveup
to this castle looking affair. well turns out lOrd whosis
and his wife were away to the US on a vacation but we
'were certainly welcome to come in and be their guests
in their absence. this was the lord and ladys housekeeper'and hse was really serious too. what made it so interesting is the fact'that Lord and Lady whosis last name was Clark, my
maiden name. The housekeeper insisted on bandaging my leg'but my dad refused her offer and just got the directions to the creek which was inside their property by the way. I always wondered if they might have been distant relatives, guess not as our clark clan started in Ireland of all places.
1 person likes this
@Lakota12 (42600)
• United States
6 Jan 10
Oh What fun!
adn it didnt harm you.
How great is that.
Closest I have really been to any thing big and wild was a black bear in Yellowstone Park . Came up to the car and wanted something to eat.
ya cant feed them for humans dont know really what they eat but some people do any how.
There you just have to keep driving to get away from them.
2 people like this
@MsTickle (25180)
• Australia
6 Jan 10
Feeding wild animals is really stoopid...firstly because it probably is NOT what they eat; secondly, if it's a young animal, it will always look for a handout and not learn to eat on its own and thirdly, there is the danger to humans when the animal thinks they are a food source...a hungry animal that cannot feed itself is going to be a tad angry I think.
@Polly1 (12645)
• United States
6 Jan 10
When I first started reading your post about he emus hanging out with the goats and te sheep, I thought that would look cute. Then when I got to the last part, holy cow, that would have scared the daylights outta me. To see something that big running towards me. I have seen and been sort of close to some wild animals, but not close enough to feel threatened. What is scary for me is to be walking along and have a dog come out growling and barking, thats scary too me.
2 people like this
@p1kef1sh (45681)
•
6 Jan 10
Looks around for Rod Hull - OK. I guess that s/he was hoping that they could follow you back to the field! I have a monkey story. Or an ape story really. I used to visit Gibraltar frequently for work. I always stayed in an Hotel called The Rock which was situated above a park. In this park was a small animal enclosure and in the enclosure was an ape. On my way back to the hotel in the evenings I would stop to say hello to the ape. Every time, irrespective of the amount of weeks or months that had intervened, his greeting was the same. He would turn around, stick out his bum and FART! That made me wild and him dangerous!
2 people like this
@artistry (4151)
• United States
6 Jan 10
...Hi there MsTickle, Can't say that I have had any encounters with anything large and wild. My grandmother was once butted by a billy goat on her farm, which she subsequently wrestled to the ground, and sent him on his way, I am told. The only thing that I can remember scaring me in a way, was a giant horsefly that flew into my head, then flew away. No other wild, non-human things have chased me that I can remember. I think the emu wanted some of your leaves and to be your friend as well. Take care.
2 people like this
@MsTickle (25180)
• Australia
6 Jan 10
A horsefly eh...shudder.
The emu rejected my leaves for which i'm glad. He was looking for a tasty treat though.
My billy has butted me too and hooked me with his horns...I have the bruises to show for it. They are very adept at using them and they are strong. Kudos to your grandmother.
The emu rejected my leaves for which i'm glad. He was looking for a tasty treat though.
My billy has butted me too and hooked me with his horns...I have the bruises to show for it. They are very adept at using them and they are strong. Kudos to your grandmother.
@rose66 (378)
• China
6 Jan 10
i never encouter with a wild animal, i even don't have a intimate contact with the other animals. if i say i like the animals it only means that i like to see them on the pictures or moives but not the real ones. i even don't touch the dog or cat ever.
2 people like this
@Lindalinda (4111)
• Canada
9 Jan 10
Oh wow Ms. Tickle what an experience! I also love the picture of the two emus. I have only seen emus in the zoo or the agricultural winter fair to which I go every year to look at domestic animals. I agree with you, the beak looks really sharp and they seem to have a mean look in their eyes.
I cannot match your experience but I live at the outskirts of a megacity, my place being close to Lake Ontario. There is also a creek that ends at the lake just down the road from where I live. A friend and I often walk along the creek for a few kilometres since there is a paved path along one side of the creek for walking and biking. We often see koyote scat and on two occasions we saw a couple of them on the other side of the creek in a clearing in the woods.
One morning last summer I went to the park by myself and crossed a little bridge over the creek. There I saw what I thought to be a German Shepard dog frolicing on a meadow. Since this park only allows leashed animals I looked around for his owner. I saw a man in the distance and called out: is this your dog? The man looked and said: "my dear this is not a dog! Sure enough the coyote vanished into the underbrush.
1 person likes this
@gabs8513 (48686)
• United Kingdom
5 Jan 10
Wow MsTickle that was some adventure you had
No I have never had an encounter and I hope that I never will lol as I would not be as calm as you I would run for it which would probably make the matter worse but I would not think of that at the time
@royal52gens (5488)
• United States
6 Jan 10
The closest I have gotten to a deer in the wild was while we were driving down a country road. The deer was running along side the car for a distance. I rolled the window down and put my hand out to pet the back of the doe. She let me pet her as we were going down the road. She kept up with the car. It was an amazing experience. Good thing we were driving slow.
1 person likes this
@MsTickle (25180)
• Australia
6 Jan 10
Wow royal, that's wonderful experience. Fancy you being able to do that. Maybe she was used to humans.
My cat is acting like a wild lunatic this morning, running from one end of the house, bouncing off furniture and walls then back again. He's stopped now.
@scarlet_woman (23463)
• United States
15 Jan 10
i wouldn't go within 20 ft of an emu or an ostrich if i could avoid it.they can be nasty!they had a farm that had both near where i used to live,and they seemed to spend the day at the fence border hissing LOL
let's see..i almost stepped on an eastern diamondback snake in alabama..
then 6 years later i met it's ugly cousin the western in arizona..
i had a young hawk land on my shoulder in rhode island and claw the poop out of it..
..and then there was the claw marks on a tree in arizona that were from a baby bear.
the scary part about that was not that i didn't see the bear
..it was that it was fresh,and where was the mama?
they had a farm that had both near where i used to live,and they seemed to spend the day at the fence border hissing LOL
let's see..i almost stepped on an eastern diamondback snake in alabama..
then 6 years later i met it's ugly cousin the western in arizona..
i had a young hawk land on my shoulder in rhode island and claw the poop out of it..
..and then there was the claw marks on a tree in arizona that were from a baby bear.
the scary part about that was not that i didn't see the bear..it was that it was fresh,and where was the mama?@scarlet_woman (23463)
• United States
16 Jan 10
i do seem to attract animals.my family jokes about it LOL
@zed_k4 (17589)
• Singapore
6 Jan 10
Wow..that was really a close shave, I would be wondering like crazy too, if it's huge beak is beside me, LOL. I have always been wondering about dogs. Not the types of dogs that people have as pets, but jungle dogs. You know the ones luring in the wild. They call it wild dogs too at times. Sometimes I can see them, and I really cannot decipher their next move. But those were the times when I was on the bike. Just wondering if I was walking and I saw them.............
2 people like this
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
6 Jan 10
mstickle wow an emu keeping you company,that could have been scary so glad that the emu did not hurt you. I once cuddled and petted a grey wolf as I really thought it was a larger german shepard with slightly rough hair. I was in my twenties and we had just settled down for a few days In Banff Alberta Canada in this rather rustic tourist cabin. The owners had some chickens and some cats, and I just thought this was their pet dog. so I met the owner of the tourist park, and asked him about his beautiful big grey german shepard. I said,your dog growled a little at first but once he saw I was friendly he let me pet him and even took a piece of my sandwich which I gAve to him.he seems a bit hungry though. the man looked alarmed and said, we dont own a dog, not even a German Shepard.we have a grey wolf that comes down sometimes and gets into the garbage. my lady you took a'chance petting a wild gray wolf like that. I said well he did not hurt me and seemed hungry so I was not afraid of him,too i did not know he was a wolf.
1 person likes this
@dawnald (85146)
• Shingle Springs, California
5 Jan 10
Reminds me of the Wiggles song, "Walk Like an Emu"...
Well there was the time I was 5 and the family was hiking and I ran up a hill ahead of everybody. Freaked my parents out because of the sign that said, "warning, rattlesnakes". I didn't see one though.
1 person likes this
@bunnybon7 (50973)
• Holiday, Florida
10 Jan 10
oh my thats so interesting.
the only thing i knew about these birds was that a few years ago they were on the endangered species list. and that they are quite ugly in the face (to me) thats the great thing about mylot you learn so much about other countries. like i have now learned that some other countries not only have the same programs on tv but they are later then ours....PLEASE, forgive me
I will never forget again. wonderful picture here btw, hugs??, Bon
the only thing i knew about these birds was that a few years ago they were on the endangered species list. and that they are quite ugly in the face (to me) thats the great thing about mylot you learn so much about other countries. like i have now learned that some other countries not only have the same programs on tv but they are later then ours....PLEASE, forgive me I will never forget again. wonderful picture here btw, hugs??, Bon @MsTickle (25180)
• Australia
10 Jan 10
Most of our animals are or will be eventually on the endangered species list. We were once a land mostly covered in water...all our basins and gullies were water filled. Over the millenniums the water dried up and that's how we lost the dinosaurs that lived in the area where I live now. Australia is the driest continent in the world and getting drier each year...I wish the government would jump up and down about it and tell people to stop wasting water...it's just ridiculous.
Yes my friend...big hugs...of course.
@tamarafireheart (15384)
•
6 Jan 10
Hi Ms Tickle,
This just mader me laugh, oh I've heard of being walked home but not by an emu, these birds always makes me laugh as it is and no, I've never come across an emu before, I am glad he didn't attack you and just walked off. I would be scared too.
Tamara
1 person likes this
