Planet Rothschildi

[Ashburnham]

Good to see you back on the job mate!


M

 

[Tame Emu Guy]

I feel almost guilty posting. I really am winding it down. Even in just a week or so, my attitude to the birds has changed. I am neutrally watching, as I did years ago. Having Felicity around while I am in non-observation mode is just a joy.

But a couple of things warrant mention:

in conversation with a Local Lad, the subject of things that predate on emu chicks came up – indeed, guys, it was the guy who has the dingo trap in his ‘museum’ – and L.L. said, ‘Phascogales!!’ Now, a phascogale looks like an oversized rat with a big tuft of fur on its tail. It’s both arboreal and nocturnal. S.E. disagreed. I contacted an environmentalist down on the coast, and she agreed with me, and then . . . added two predators to the list!!

So, there’s little doubt that the ‘chudditch’ -- Google a photo -- predates on emu chicks, and so, probably, do . . . large water birds like herons!! This last surprised me; but Tina says that predation of chicks by such large water birds – at the water’s edge, when the chicks come to drink – is something that’s by no means uncommon, and she’s seen it firsthand (of chicks of other species).

Yeh, K.B., the data-gathering in respect of pastures has been long, frustrating, and lacking in ‘closure.’ However, it is tied in with so many other ‘equations,’ like how big a territory a breeding-pair might undertake to stake out and hold, that it was worth every fumble. It's been a most successful failure. There are those who remember when the only pasture we knew was the house-clearing, and then our first excursion to Oudman's, which was a big event.

Consider the ornithologist who was studying the wrens down on the coast. These birds live their whole lives in an area a couple of hundred yards square. For us, though, piecing together even the outline of a flock’s movements over time would require numbers of people working over weeks. It would be, quite simply, an enormous task. I am still stunned that we managed to find the nursery. It’s an area four hundred yards square in an ‘observation block’ ten miles long and two miles deep. So, our ‘failure’ was far from total.

There are hoppers on the corridor. That project is in abeyance.

For K.B. and others:

Felicity is Eric’s daughter. The lineage is as follows:

2008: Supreme Emu arrives. Eric the Emu is present, scoffing fallen fruit. S.E. starts semi-taming him. [See Eric scoff a whole peach. See Eric’s eyeballs bulge as he stands there, choking for breath, with what looks like a soccer ball stuck half-way down his neck. See Supreme Emu chop up the peaches, and throw the slices to Eric. See Eric decide that Supreme Emu is a useful addition of the house-clearing.]

January, 2009: Eric turns up with three chicks: Number One, Felicity, and Greedy. These chicks first feed from S.E.’s hands some months later. (Guys, my whatsit avatar photo is of two of those chicks at about that time.)

Following years: the chicks grow to adulthood. Greedy displaces Eric. Number One dies. I start more formal observations. Greedy has a clutch with Boy Emu last winter.

Three months ago: Eric turns up with this Alpha and Omega, who are also (probably . . . ) related to Felicity and Greedy.

Also, K.B., we have observations (dating back before you began reading) of Mrs. Eric, Eric’s mate. The Books suggest that females take different consorts each year, but Eric and Mrs. Eric have been an item known to readers for longer than that.

So . . . it just might be that (if parenting continues for months yet) Mrs. Eric will reappear next year. Notwithstanding what Mr. Book says, there is a strong and clear logic in an experienced and dominant couple mating each season for years.

Note also that it’s the females that do the choosing. (It’s interesting to note how human-centric people’s discourse is when we consider this issue.) I personally wonder about Mrs. Eric. She’s of about average shyness: won’t come close to me. However, Eric is one of only a tiny number of know double-alpha birds (Eric, his daughter Greedy, and Foreign Bird), so Mrs. Eric herself is clearly not small cheese even if she is shy around me.

Finally:

I am tempted to locate the farmhouse on the land where the Way-to-Town soak is because I begin to think that it’s the same four birds – that is, that they’re pets!! I only see them – whizz!!!!! – as I pass; but they are lovely young adults, that is, fairly recognisable.

(Such birds are fairly recognisable in the wild simply because there aren’t that many of them about, and they’re still neat and glossy looking. Bear in mind, pet-emu owners, that although your birds are glossy and groomed – Sheriff’s birds are an outstanding example – wild adult birds are usually scruffy. Dark Emu, here last autumn, was outstanding because it was so sleek and ‘coiffed.’ Meanwhile, two days ago, Eric Plus turned up for their feed with grass-and-cobweb ‘hats’ on their heads. Go figure.

‘Kay, I’m off to the garden; but if nothing else, there will be brief reports when the figs come on, and wild birds arrive in numbers.

S.E.

 

[Tame Emu Guy]

Felicity is convalescent!! I was unsure. I thought I saw some wetness on her feathers, weeping from the area of her wound, a week ago.

This morning I was able to examine her (’examine’). There is a little blood visible.

So, double rations for her, and general cosseting. She’s excused all mating-season expectations. (She managed a number of quiet strings-of-ten booms pre-dawn.)

S.E.

 

[yinepu]

Felicity is convalescent!! I was unsure. I thought I saw some wetness on her feathers, weeping from the area of her wound, a week ago.

This morning I was able to examine her (’examine’). There is a little blood visible.

So, double rations for her, and general cosseting. She’s excused all mating-season expectations. (She managed a number of quiet strings-of-ten booms pre-dawn.)

S.E.

i hope she has a speedy recovery

Paco is still recovering from the dog attack.. his main wound has shrunk a little more than half
the smaller wounds along his neck have healed completely.. though he will have some scarring and has a lot of feathers to regrow

I may even have to use sunblock on some of his woulds as summer progresses

 

[Tame Emu Guy]

Thank you, Yinepu.

Would you like to take a wild guess at how long a chest-puncture wound might take to heal? I see unbridled evolutionary drive evident in Felicity. (See today’s post. She may be back in control of the house-clearing.) I can coddle her a little; but I fear that, if wild birds turn up in numbers, she’ll be in combat on a daily basis. So, it was a pretty good wound in the first place, eight or ten weeks ago now; and I see just a little ‘wetness’ if I ‘rub her feathers the wrong way.’ Otherwise, absolutely no other indications. Weather is clear and hot -- ??

S.E.

 

[Tame Emu Guy]

No-Frills Report:

Alpha Chick turned up alone yesterday afternoon, and spent several hours wandering about cheeping. I fed it.

What does it mean? I begin to recall the bare bones of the chronology of Eric ‘cutting loose’ the three chicks I tamed. He stopped sharing food with them. They came into direct competition for the wheat that I threw down. Then . . . the chicks were here alone, and I fed them every day. That was in autumn. I remember because I lobbed six or eight thousand figs down their gullets.

Well, we may get a great datum here: evolutionarily, Eric could dump the chicks ‘now’ or ‘later.’ If now, he steps straight into the mating-season milieu. If ‘then,’ he could parent them for months and months yet; then ditch them; then enter the 2014-winter milieu.

Otherwise, a small shock: I tried to identify some birds that turned up at the fig tree, and realised that my eyes just aren’t good enough. (Not so much poor vision, but pain from the dryness of the summer air.)

Guys, I am eighty-percent sure that a phalanx of three birds passed by the fig tree yesterday. There was a pair, but I think there was a third. That’s important because that’s Autumn Stuff. I haven’t seen three birds together – barring chicks and Way-to-Town soak birds – for months now.

Felicity swung into action – Uncle Tom Emu!! She huffs and puffs, then . . . slips in through the gate, and stands around in the backyard, looking important, ‘leveraging off' the wild birds’ fear of people. Wa ha ha!! I imagine her with a little clipboard clamped officiously under her tiny wing: ‘09:15 Hours. Sent intruder birds packing. No significant resistance. [Go, me!!]’

Off to town. Let’s see what happens.

S.E.

 

[yinepu]

Thank you, Yinepu.

Would you like to take a wild guess at how long a chest-puncture wound might take to heal? I see unbridled evolutionarily drive evident in Felicity. (See today’s post. She may be back in control of the house-clearing.) I can coddle her a little; but I fear that, if wild birds turn up in numbers, she’ll be wading into combat on a daily basis. So, it was a pretty good wound in the first place, eight or ten weeks ago now; and I see just a little ‘wetness’ if I ‘rub her feathers the wrong way.’ Otherwise, absolutely no other indications. Weather is clear and hot.

S.E.

Paco was attacked on January 15th

the wound was pretty bad I honestly didn't think he would make it through the night.. here's a pic of the worst wound that I took a couple of days ago just before cleaning it for the day..




it was about half healed in this picture.. (so it was twice as large) and it was extremely deep... most of the underlying tissue has healed up (re-built itself) and the diameter of the wound has shrunk by at least half.. The dogs took a big chunk out of him.. plus numerous bite wounds all along his neck

so for a puncture.. if it's not as bad as Paco's wound.. probably a few more weeks so long as infection doesn't set in.
Now Paco did have benefit of neosporin... and wound cleaning.. so that may make a bit of a difference in healing time

One thing I have learned from this is that given a chance to heal.. emus are almost bullet proof once they get past the baby stage...

 

[yinepu]

Paco's wounds this morning

throat.. healed but may show scarring later on



right thigh.. had several deep puncture wounds, lost a chunk to flesh. You can see the remains of several of the punctures made by the dogs canine teeth
that entire section was raw flesh.. now it has scabbed over, is completely dry and is healing.. even though it still looks pretty rough.




base of neck (same wound that I pictured above in the other post)
this is now a large scab.. so most of the underlying tissue has regrown.





He is having some feathers growing back in already... and like I said before.. I had actually expected him to die that first night (well.. the first week actually). He does have other smaller puncture wounds in addition to these.. plus several more bites along his throat/neck. But I think this proves that emus can be pretty tough birds.

sorry for the bad pics.. he was more interested in eating than posing for pictures!

 

[Tame Emu Guy]

Yinepu, I'm reading your report now. I popped on to apologise for being too rude to ask after your bird.

S.E.

 

[Tame Emu Guy]

Long post to follow. Felicity is here.


And so is Alpha Chick!!

S.E.