Category Archives: Emus (the bird)

From Nature comes “Ostrich penis clears up evolutionary mystery.” To quote:

A long-running question about how the largest species of birds achieve erect penises seems to have been settled. In a study published this week in theJournal of Zoology¹, researchers report that male ostriches and emus enlarge their penises using a burst of lymphatic fluid rather than a blood vascular system like that found in reptiles and mammals.

The finding, based on dissections, matches what is known about other species of birds — only 3% of which have penises — and could have important implications for the understanding of the shared, and divergent, evolutionary heritage of birds and reptiles.

I guess something to share with others at the Holiday cocktail parties.  And yet another reason why we should be the emus and not the eagles.

I’m procrastinating a bit on a soggy Saturday morning, so I thought I’d see what’s new in emu news:

• “Trestle-trotting emu hit by car on US 2″ is a fairly familiar story about an escaped emu who found his (I presume, since it was named “Curious George”) onto a freeway. Though sadly, the emu didn’t make it. Interestingly though, it sounds like the emu was struck by one car, maybe have been struck by others, and he managed to injure a state patrol officer before going down. Again, evidence that emus are tough.
• “Chehaw asks public to name new emus” is about a zoo/animal park of some sort in southwest Georgia that is having a contest about naming its new emus.  I’m going to suggest “Ypsilanti” and “Huron.”
• “Emu farms begin mushrooming in state” is about emu farming in India. Huh. Well, maybe tandoori emu would be tasty….

No football game this weekend, but there is still plenty of news about Emus out there, and once again, I have come across a story about the frequently escaping third largest bird.  From the Oregon Live web site (and I believe The Oregonian newspaper) comes “Police are still looking for owner of emu found wandering on U.S. 26 near Sandy.” Here’s a quote from the story:

Police still are looking for the owner of an emu found wandering in traffic on U.S. 26.

The bird remains on an emu ranch near Estacada, where authorities brought the big flightless, ostrich-like bird Wednesday.

“I sure would know if I were missing an emu,” said Lt. Nick Watt, Clackamas County sheriff’s spokesman. “It’s not like it’s a robin.” Watt said police are calling emu ranches in the Mount Hood corridor to see if any big birds got away.

I really like that quote:  indeed, an emu is not like a robin; and yet, both being birds, it is like a robin. I will let you contemplate the emu/robin zen koan over the weekend instead of watching the Emus lose at football…..

In recent emu (the bird) news: “Grandma recovering after emu accident,” from the Northwest Florida Daily News. Quite the odd story; here are the opening paragraphs:

LaReatha DeLoach’s biggest complaint Monday was not being able to play her Xbox because her arm hurt.

“She’s not your everyday grandma,” said Lacey DeLoach of her grandmother. “We told her she’s going to have to settle down and be a normal grandma for now.”

LaReatha suffered a pretty sizable gash on her right wrist after she and her grandchildren were herding the family’s pet emus onto a trailer for transport.

Because of an upcoming move, the family won’t be able to care for all the animals they once provided a home. Slowly they whittled away their menagerie of cows, turkeys, goats and horses and the emus were heading to their new home at the Alaqua Animal Refuge on Sunday.

By the way, the title of this post comes from one of the comments on the article page– I couldn’t resist.