[eskielover]

This was the strangest thing I have ever experienced with an animal/bird. Emu's are strange looking birds (somewhat ostrich looking but not really that either. My friend has a pair of Emu's. I go to her house for dinner every week.....she cooks one week & I bring dinner the next......well, after dinner, we always go out & bring in the horses, & llamas & check on the llama that's in with the emu's. I had never noticed the feathers on the ground before yesterday. I picked one up......very interesting....two long feathers per folical. They are beautiful & lacy looking. I decided to pick up a few more. I was arranging them in my hand, holding the quills between my finger & letting the feathers flow down. My friend was also picking up feathers that she came across. Well, Primm, the male emu came up to me, sort of giving me this evil eye look & just stood there right next to me for a few seconds. We realized that he didn't want me touching the feathers & she thought that I needed to put the feathers down because that was what was bothering him. Sure enough. I laid the feathers down & showed him that I didn't have any more. He lowered his head & started to strew the feathers all over the ground the way they had been before I picked them up. He never bothered my friend about the feathers she picked up, but I was a stranger & I didn't belong there messing with the feathers that had been on the ground. She figured it would have been a good chance that he might have attacked me if I hadn't put the feathers down. My friend commented later that it was a good thing that I hadn't run away either or he might have chased & attacked. Interesting as the thought of running had never even crossed my mind....I was so fascinated by his behavior all I could do was stand there & watch & slowly walk away to give him his space.

They are the strangest birds.....beautiful flowing feathers also. Have never seen anything like it in bird behavior either.

[Evening]

Being from Australia emus are nothing new to me at all, but they are interesting. I won't call them stupid because I don't like to say that about critters, but they aren't exactly the brightest stars in the sky. It is true they can come after you, but a lot of Australian animals will do that if they get used to people. Better an emu than a cassowary though....

[eskielover]

yes, they don't seem to be the brightest stars in the sky.....I'm with you there. They are interesting though, however, not sociable even though they have been around my friend all their life. Definitely not the kind of pet I would care to have that's for sure......think they belong in the wild & not in captivity....or course, I feel that way about a lot of critters that people have brought into captivity for business profit reasons.

Don't think I would care to have them come after me with that beak of theirs, it could give a huge pinch & break something I'm sure. Interesting, they have no tongue. Birds don't have teeth anyway, but when they open their beak, it's all empty in there.

Clearly, he is a member of PETA who doesn't believe in using feathers for fashion.

Or Perhaps, the bird had decorated for your weekly dinner party, and "well that debbie. She just HAD to go and wreck my lovely decorating! TSK!"

[eskielover]

(((((Rainbowzz))))),

Very pretty decorations that's for sure. I have never seen such pretty feathers before. The only double feathered quilled bird. It's the strangest look to pick up one quill & see 2 feathers attached. They really aren't that bright of birds however....but their behavior is definitely one for the books