- Nov 9, 2013
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Been busy.
Felicity Emu, tamed here as a chick in 2008-9, has turned up after a four-and-a-half year absence. I'd long assumed that she and her two clutchmates -- 'Number One' and the legendary Greedy Emu -- were dead.
Limpy Chick drove her off. But a couple of times I snuck out into the gums to feed her, which I used to do seven and eight years ago.
Limpy Chick, whom you recall was paired up with 'Sandy' last autumn, presently commands the house-clearing. It was interesting to see her near Felicity. LC has filled out, and is now a hefty player (and young)
Yesterday, while walking in the rain -- a great pleasure for me because my eyes don't hurt -- I saw a fine thing: first, an emu moving hesitantly across an open space quite close. When it grunted, I knew to search the ground for chicks, and there they were, two v. young chicks, streaking through the dusk, with Dad following behind.
And Tooshtoosh is 'still out there.' We think that males usually depart their nest (often on the female's turf) with the new chicks in tow, and then 'shows them the world.' So it is not impossible that he will eventually turn up here.
And as it is only the males that do this, Tooshtoosh is the last thread of the original project. The females -- Greedy, Number One, Felicity, Uno Chick, Limpy Chick -- may come and go for a decade or more; but the backbone of the Planet Rothschildi project was Eric-and-the-clutches-he-bought-here. That's who Greedy and Co., are -- Eric's chicks grown up.
Finally,
Felicity Emu, tamed here as a chick in 2008-9, has turned up after a four-and-a-half year absence. I'd long assumed that she and her two clutchmates -- 'Number One' and the legendary Greedy Emu -- were dead.
Limpy Chick drove her off. But a couple of times I snuck out into the gums to feed her, which I used to do seven and eight years ago.
Limpy Chick, whom you recall was paired up with 'Sandy' last autumn, presently commands the house-clearing. It was interesting to see her near Felicity. LC has filled out, and is now a hefty player (and young)
Yesterday, while walking in the rain -- a great pleasure for me because my eyes don't hurt -- I saw a fine thing: first, an emu moving hesitantly across an open space quite close. When it grunted, I knew to search the ground for chicks, and there they were, two v. young chicks, streaking through the dusk, with Dad following behind.
And Tooshtoosh is 'still out there.' We think that males usually depart their nest (often on the female's turf) with the new chicks in tow, and then 'shows them the world.' So it is not impossible that he will eventually turn up here.
And as it is only the males that do this, Tooshtoosh is the last thread of the original project. The females -- Greedy, Number One, Felicity, Uno Chick, Limpy Chick -- may come and go for a decade or more; but the backbone of the Planet Rothschildi project was Eric-and-the-clutches-he-bought-here. That's who Greedy and Co., are -- Eric's chicks grown up.
Finally,
