The Emu

Of the many, many things I thought I might be doing at Rohan Farm this morning, an Emu roundup was not in the top five or ten. In fact, it wasn’t even in the top 100. Still, there I was, helping Mike (no, not Doug) load two Emus into the back of his truck. You can’t make this stuff up. 

Carmen and I were walking back to the house from feeding the horses this morning when Carmen froze, while looking into the woods. I followed her gaze and stealthily walking towards our driveway were the two biggest turkeys I’d ever seen. Wait a minute, those aren’t turkeys, they are … two Emus? What?!

I had Carmen in a sit/stay as they approached and then grabbed her by the collar and took her into the house, while she growled and barked at the Emus. Strangely, they didn’t run away. 

When I came back outside, they were still there, and in fact were walking towards me. I clucked at them (what the hell kind of sound does an Emu make? I have no idea.) and gently waved a glove in the air. They were attracted to the glove and calmly followed me down the driveway to the small paddock by the barn. Once they came in the paddock, I quickly circled back and locked the gate. Whew!

About a half mile away, I knew our neighbor Mike raised a couple of Emu, along with some turkeys and chickens, so I was fairly sure they were his. Carmen and I drove to his house, and sure enough, they had escaped in the night. Mike said he’d be at my place in a few minutes to pick them up. 

Mike showed up a few minutes later with his truck and a bucket of grain. The Emus were still in the paddock and hadn’t escaped. In a few minutes, he was able to entice the first one with the grain and then grabbed it, ensuring he had a hold of the thrashing legs for safety reasons (both his and the Emu’s I believe.) Into the back of the enclosed truck it went. A few minutes more and he captured the second one as well. We shook hands and he returned home to put them back in their pen.

Me? I went back to the house fed Carmen and made a pot of coffee. It’s now 8:30AM and the rest of the day is stretching in front of me. I seriously doubt anything will top this morning for a new adventure. I’m also reasonably sure that any time I see Doug and LiMu hawking Liberty Mutual Insurance on TV, I’m going to flash back to this morning.

Addendum:

• To my regret, I was so amazed watching Mike capture each Emu that I didn’t think to take any photos.