Hope Springs Eternal Dog Rescue, Rehoming & Retirement Inc.

4 days ago

Just another day in Paradise!Epic Emu Escapade

I was working in our home office today when I heard the dogs all barking. I assumed that someone was delivering one of the many things I've bought online recently - egg incubator, brooding lamps, hutches for hatchlings, pet enclosures.

I thought I had better go and see what was going on - fully expecting a delivery guy.

What I did not expect - at all - was our new Emu, Oscar sauntering down the driveway and sticking his neck curiously over the picket fence to check out the dogs barking. He wasn't fusssd at my appearance and continued his foray - sampling this and that as he went. I got some feed and tried to entice him in the general direction I wanted him to go.

I feel compelled to tell you at this point that when younger I was very afraid 😳 of Emus and have NO EXPERIENCE OR SKILL whatsoever in handling them. There are some very obvious things though:

You cannot pick them up, put a lead on them or make them go where you want them to go. You can only encourage, cajole and curse. He stopped to enjoy a juicy weed - so I thought if I picked it - I could use it to entice him. While I was bent over - he donked me on the head with his beak!🐧

So-oo - together we strolled down to the creek - but he wouldn't cross the bridge over the creek, he also wouldn't step down the embankment to go in the bottom gate back to the paddock next door. So, we strolled up the hill again - and back down - and then he thought he might go and see the neighbour! I couldn't afford to let him get over there because there is no fence to stop him leaving the scene completely - so I put my arms up in the air and flapped them about and tried to head him back in the opposite direction.

He raised his head and neck higher than me and clonked me on the head with his beak. Watch yourself Bird 🐦 Brain says I. Back up the hill we go. Dogs are barking up a storm and distracting him. I had no hope of getting his attention - so I locked the dogs inside, grabbed some lettuce and went back out.

He was nowhere to be seen 👀.

I found him over by the fence and was reminded that we had a gate over there into the paddock next door. There was a tree branch right across it and the chain and closure were rusted closed - so off I go to get a saw to cut the major portion of the tree down and bolt cutters to get the chain open!

I opened the gate but he was still meandering around - so I had to climb over the fence, scramble through dense bushes and come round behind him - where we did some more traversing up and down a hill until I managed to shepherd him through the gate.

Phase 1 Accomplished ✔️

Then I had to do much more of all that to entice him through a gate into the next paddock over - so we didn't repeat the whole experience.

Then I had to empty, move and refill the water 💦 trough.

And while I was bending over picking up the hose - clonk - another donk 🙄 on the head!

All of this took an hour and a half and resulted in me needing to work till 8pm tonight to be ready for a presentation to inner city homeless service providers tomorrow on our Home 🏡 4 2 Program.

Was it just this morning that I posted How lucky am I to live here?😊

Darn Ball Bearing 🐦 Bird.

🎶The ball bearing bird, the ball bearing bird,
He's never been seen, he's never been heard
He's known to be roaming around and around,
Because he scatters ball bearings all over the ground. ... See MoreSee Less