Our stories
I've got a bit of a story to tell, I suppose there's a little shame involved, but to my knowledge nothing got hurt. They're going to bait the forests in about a week, so I'm trying to get the puppies out there every day until they do, 'cause then those forests will be effectively shut to us for the next few weeks.
I'd gone to our most frequented forest a couple of times & decided to go to another, one that is more in our front yard & well & truely behind the highway, where there's a lot less homes with much larger blocks of land. It ended up being quite a short walk, but really huge on excitement!!!!
We arrived & I opened up the back of ute to a burst of puppies . . . which is the norm. I began plodding, as is also the norm, but decided to go in a less usual direction. I almost always follow a path that has less of a mountain to climb - because I'm old & a little broken; but this time I chose to face the trudge uphill.
I'd really only just started, my body hadn't even noticed yet, we hadn't really gotten to the rise - when the dogs came across something. At first I thought it was a roo, that they had startled & that's why it rammed the fence. But it did so again . . . & again?!? It appeared to be 'having a go' at them.
As I got closer I noticed how tall this creature was, a little frightening so actually, considering it seemed quite angry! . . . then I noticed it had feathers not fur!?! It was taller than me! & I really did not relish the idea of facing an angry Emu!!! I had seen thier tracks in this area before, but never an actual bird 😮
Of course as soon as this all began I had called the dogs, & perhaps if the bird had not continued ramming the fence, they may have listened; but they did not, it was all just far too exciting, & when the bird ran off . . . . they ran off after it. I thought it was kind of strange behaviour, though I've never been that close to an Emu in the wild before.
I've seen plenty of them . . . in the distance, I knew they were out there, but I've always thought they avoided people & the areas people were in. This bird was on the outside of the forest fence, in a slim strip of land between the forest & a road - admittingly a dirt road, with a fairly limited amount of people that use it; but it's still a road & does get regularly used.
Almost immediately after the trio tore off, this huge flightless bird, followed by a staffy & a little white fluff ball . . . - . . . I heard peeping, bip bip bops . . . & out came about 1/2 dozen fluffy striped Emu chicks!!!!! I instantly {well almost, I had to look for a little bit} turned around & began walking back to the entrance of the forest.
Now I understood why she was being so aggressive. I made sure I'd walked some distance back before I started calling the dogs, I did not want them returning to that spot. I began really worrying about the little fella, who normally wouldn't join in a chase - but as I said before, this one was just too exciting.
I really don't know a lot about Emus, but her size had frightened me & I know enough about maternal instincts to realize she wouldn't think twice about ending my dogs. I'm pretty sure they would have claws & that their legs would be extremely powerful; I also think they'd be pretty darned fast, & I worried how far she would take them, being particularly concerned about the little fella getting lost.
I went back out the entrance to the forest & began walking up the road toward the direction they had gone. I'd been calling ever since I got far enough away from the chicks. I saw the staffy straight away, way up the road - like a tiny black dot, & he started, in a zig-zag manner, coming back towards me.
When he finally got to me, I'd never seen him so puffed in his life. He had to stop a couple of times, I was worried he'd been injured. But when I finally got him back on-lead & checked him over, I found nothing - no injuries & no blood. I think he'd just had the longest, fasted, most exciting run ever!
I had barely had time to start panicking about the little fella, when he came puffing & panting around the corner of another dirt road. I checked him over as well & again there was nothing. No indication that the bird had struck them or that they had caught the bird 🙂
Our excitement was finally over & I truely hope, from the deepest point of my heart, that the mother returned to her chicks. I won't return to that spot until after the baiting is done. I hope they don't bait birds but while I was in another spot, not a forest but an environmental area {which to my knowledge it's ok to take dogs, there are no signs saying otherwise} I came across a baiting warning, & it stated the poison was in grain.
I'm taking a guess at why the Emu was where she was, & that's the drought - it's pretty bad here. I know the farmers are struggling to find feed for what stock they have, many have 'down-sized' there herds, many have gotten rid of them all. But it's not just agricultural livestock that suffers in a drought, particularly one that has gone on for as long as this one.
There's a total fire ban on in my any many areas, in mine and other states. I think it's going to be a scary summer.
Love to all 
Warm wishes to all. @Sophia1 @Faith-and-Hope @Shaz51 and ...
I have had 2 servings of porridge and a lovely phone call from a friend. I think it will be an indoor day, though I may go out for some gardening.
@Exoplanet On my last bush walk with my son I was saddened by the baiting, but I know it is a practical part of wilderness reserve management. My son's good eye saw a couple of goats and we watched them for a while. One was caught on a dangerous rocky outcrop halfway up a cliffy-mountain ...and its partner kept trying to get to it. When we returned to the noticeboards, we realised the baiting was for them.
Hi everyone. Writing some replies at 1am after another day of sleeping, followed by a night collapsed in the armchair watching TV (Frasier, Seinfeld, Big Bang Theory). I went to bed before midnight and maybe had an hour of light sleep, then awake again. So here I am.
@CheerBear, good to hear your person is in the last stages of radiation therapy. Was it middle who climbed the wall? That would be quite a feat with a broken arm! I like your penguin hugs.
@Exoplanet, that's quite a tale! I would be pretty intimidated by an emu! Relieved that the dogs came to no harm. Funny to think the little fella was off on the chase too. Where will you walk the dogs when the baiting is happening in the forests? Emu chicks would have been an awesome sight. I too hope the mother went back to them. Sounds like a scary drought where you are. Stay safe.
@Sophia1, that makes four of us Toni Collette fans here. Hope the road train passes you by quickly.
@eth, I imagine you will have come back from the farm and might be reading this in the morning. Hope you had a wonderful time there and that this week flows smoothly.
@Faith-and-Hope, @Shaz51, @Appleblossom, @everyone
