2009/07/14

The Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae)

The Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) is the largest bird native to Australia and a heraldic animal. There is no love lost for this flightless bird from Mrs. Schmitz who had a few unpleasant encounters with captive specimens. It’s not clear what triggers the aggression of these birds towards the innocent Mrs. Schmitz but they start chasing her and try to peck her as soon as they notice her presence. Surprisingly the other heraldic animal of Australia, the kangaroo, shows a quite simular tendency for violence towards the poor woman with frequent attempts to kick her. There is no recorded encounter of Suki the cat with Emus, consequently we can only speculate on the outcome of such an event, but it’s pretty sure that the Emu can be excluded as prey animal of choice because of the size of this bird. The Emu pictured above is a tame female that we met at an outback petrol station in the Northern Territory. For safety reasons Mrs. Schmitz stayed in the car as we stopped there to fill up.

Next week: The very elusive Night Parrot