NDR: Emu dads

[alcina]

Didn't get to go diving today, but DH gave me a heads up on a Papa Emu with eight babies walking past the house so I grabbed my camera and headed out. I don't like to get too close as the Dad's are pretty protective.

Right down the road with five of the younguns

On the walk back home, another Dad had two slightly older chicks with him

He made sure to keep an eye on me...

They're fun - never see enough emus

 

[justleesa]

my friend had some in her yard...hurts like heck when they bite! But the eggs are great for painting, like porcelain (that is what she bought them for)!

Cool that you can enjoy them up close like that

 

[alcina]

Usually they are very gentle...they like cornflakes and will eat them out of your hand. But we don't attempt that with the dads - they're just too protective of the young babies. They get better when they only have yearlings.

I love 'em and we seem to have had a population explosion here this summer.

 

[justleesa]

that might explain it....she had 5 males and 1 female....poor thing, she was almost featherless...

 

[alcina]

Emus? Really? The girls and boys don't hang out together so that's really weird!

 

[justleesa]

she had a piece of land next to her house where she kept the 5 emus (mainly for the eggs and to sell of some young) and some chickens that she bought from my dad....Maybe they hung together because of the conditions? But from what she told me she was featherless because of her male harem...

 

[alcina]

Ahhhh, not wild ones. Yeah, all sorts of female species get the jeebies kicked out of them when there's a bunch of males around.

I have to laugh at her math - five males and one female but she wanted to sell eggs and young I'd have done it the other way around! hehehee

 

[justleesa]

she liked how they looked in the yard and wanted a dozen eggs or so a year...everything else was extra...never question a womans logic....just gets more complicated...lol (BTW, this was in Gemany)