Emu bad news, emu good news
Man about town Steve Pierce sent me two unrelated emu (as in the bird) stories in one say. What are the odds?
First, the bad news: From the Fraser Coast Chronicle (I think this is near Brisbane, in Australia) comes this rather disturbing headline: Mary the emu hacked up by hungry homeless.
A homeless man who cut a sleeping emu’s throat at a zoo and hacked off its legs allegedly told police he slaughtered the bird because he was hungry.
Patrick James Andrews scaled the fence of Bundaberg’s Alexandra Park and Zoo on the night of December 23 before stabbing 30-year-old Mary the emu to death and mutilating the animal.
Horrified zoo staff discovered her bloodied body on Christmas Eve.
Yikes!
But in good emu news: from many sources, including the AP, “Emer the errant emu found safe after a month trip.”
Emer the errant emu is home after roaming free across northern Rhode Island for a month. The fugitive was profiled on television broadcasts. Authorities, area residents and owner Pamela Hood had tried to capture him. Yet he managed to outlast tranquilizer darts, traffic, freezing temperatures and hunger.
Finally on Saturday a Burrillville woman spotted Emer sauntering up her driveway. She walked the 6-foot-tall, 130-pound bird into a horse stall. Four-year-old Emer was 16 miles away from home.
Yet another reason to make the emu the EMU mascot: apparently, they have a bit of a wilderness survivalist streak in them. Sort of reminds me of the first Rambo movie….
Posted: January 5th, 2009 under Emus (the bird), In the media....
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