Thursday, August 23, 2012

The Emus Flip 'Em The Bird...!

This is the story of just how arrogant humans can be sometimes.

Mother Nature sure has a way of showing the "smarter than you" types that she has a big bag of tricks to call on. I think this was a true case of underestimating your enemy and losing the battle as well as the war!

The Emu War


This is perhaps the only formal war where one of the belligerents was not human, but rather avian. In 1932, the emu population in Australia was growing out of control, with an estimated 20,000 emus running around the Australian desert and causing havoc among crops. In response, the Australian military sent out a task force of soldiers armed with machine guns to kill the emus and even jokingly declared war on them. In mid-November they drove out into the desert and proceeded to hunt down any emus they could find. However, they ran into complications; the emus proved remarkably resilient, even when struck by multiple machine gun bullets they continued to run away, easily outstripping the heavily laden soldiers. The Emu War lasted for nearly a week before Major Meredith, the commander of the emu-killing task-force gave up in disgust after the soldiers only bagged a fraction of the elusive birds.

War duration: (November 11-18 1932) Seven days.
Casualties: 2,500 emus.


I would say that this time the Emu warriors got the best of the Australian Task Force! Guess it might be said that the avian troops flipped them the bird!

Let's have coffee in the kitchen this morning. I just watered the plants on the patio, and the furniture is a little wet!

13 comments:

rocking R rustics said...

Huh....in seven days they killed 12.5% of the emus....the australian desert is pretty darn big dont ya know.

Momlady said...

Bet the soldiers felt pretty stupid.

Anonymous said...

Nuke 'em from orbit - its the only way to be sure . . . 8^)

I didn't realize emus were THAT tough!

Sixbears said...

They are big scary birds seen from up close -really big. Fast as sin too.

linda m said...

Why doesn't this surprise me? Guess those big old nasty Emus showed that army who was boss. Flip 'm the bird I say, lol!!!

Dizzy-Dick said...

I enjoyed that story. Since I am routing for the big birds, I still have a grin on my face. Coffee sounds great this morning, inside or out.

JO said...

Good for the Emu's. But they can be nasty if they have to.

Coffee in the kitchen is fine. It is raining here again and let me tell you it's pouring down for the 3rd day.

HermitJim said...

Hey Hunk...
It is a big place, from what I've seen in pictures.

Wonder how many miles they traveled to get that 12%?

Hey, thanks for coming over today!


Hey Momlady...
Looks like the birds won in the end! How can you shoot something that can out run you?

Thanks, Lady, for your visit this morning!


Hey Anon 6:40...
Gotta try something else if machine guns don't do the job!

Wonder if this where the expression "tough ol' bird" came from?

Thanks for coming over this morning!


Hey Sixbears...
Never been up close to one, but from what I've seen they are BIG!

Those long legs certainly are made for running!

Thanks, my friend, for dropping by today!


Hey Linda...
Guess we can safely say that nature wins again!

Thanks for coming by today!


Hey Dizzy...
Guess that this time it was the humans and not the birds that laid an egg!

Thanks, buddy, for coming by this morning!


Hey JoJo...
How could anyone not just love a face like that?

They must be pretty tough to keep running after being shot!

Thanks, sweetie, for coming by today!

2 Tramps said...

I love the picture of the Emu - it really gave me a very good laugh! Thanks for the smiles and the coffee, dear H.J.!

HermitJim said...

Hey 2 Tramps...
Certainly a face to be remembered!

Making folks smile is what floats my boat! Glad you enjoyed it!

Thanks so much for dropping by today!

Bob Mc said...

I've heard there are Emus running loose all over the place in Arizona now. When the bottom fell out of the market, ranchers just turned them loose. They addapted rather well. :)

HermitJim said...

Hey Bob...
I just wonder if we will soon see an Emu round up and trail drive?

Seems to me they would be a good source of food for the hungry, providing they could catch them!

Thanks for the visit today!

vlad said...

If emus drink water, and many critters do, I would kill them at
the waterhole.

(You can feed your family with a 22 rifle and quiet subsonic ammo by shooting squirrels, raccoons and other freelaoders who come for the black oil sunflower seeds at the bird bath and feeder.)