Pyxis' Emu Chat Thread

[Pyxis]

Here's a much better picture of Sebastian:

 

[biophiliac]

Here's a much better picture of Sebastian:

Great portrait! Tell a bit about his behavior/personality?

 

[Pyxis]

Great portrait! Tell a bit about his behavior/personality?

He's a bit shy. So far he and Ciara are getting along well, but he's a little wary. He doesn't want to go in the barn when she's in there, but he's not afraid of her when they're out and about in the pen together.

Here's a quick video of them together. This isn't aggression (if it was, Ciara would be letting him have it), it's more like grooming. You can see the size difference as well, since Ciara's a year older and also female.

 

[biophiliac]

Wow! That's just amazing to see them. Is it important for him to go in the barn for safety?

 

[aart]

You can see the size difference as well, since Ciara's a year older and also female.

He's on the right?
Doesn't look that much smaller.
Is that 'grooming' part of mating or dominance or submissiveness or....??

 

[Pyxis]

Wow! That's just amazing to see them. Is it important for him to go in the barn for safety?

He's big enough that I'm not too worried about him. It would be nice if he would though, lol.

He's on the right?
Doesn't look that much smaller.
Is that 'grooming' part of mating or dominance or submissiveness or....??

She's not tons bigger than him, but you can really see the difference in real life. She's just more filled out than him.

That's kind of a social bonding thing. A good sign

 

[aart]

That's kind of a social bonding thing. A good sign

Cool.
Got a chuckle when he moved away pretty quick after the face tap.

 

[Pyxis]

Sebastian is on the naughty list.

I don't know how, but Sunday he found a weak spot in the top part of the fencing. He managed to pop it open, then push it down, and jumped right out over the bottom part of the fence. Ciara followed.

So, at seven am, my Dad got a message from one of our neighbors that live on that road that they saw the emu by the road. My Dad wakes me up (I had gone to sleep not two hours earlier, yay), and we go out to find the birds.

Ciara didn't go far. She never has the couple times she's gotten out. She was relatively easy to herd back into the pen. I did have to briefly grab her to direct her through the gate, but that was it.

Sebastian took off. Luckily, since I had a hunch that he probably just jumped the fence and then started off in a straight line, I headed the correct direction the first time and we found him on the other side of the road in the woods on my neighbor's land.

Then came the catching part. He's not nearly as tame as Ciara. It took some maneuvering for my Dad and I to get him cornered, and in the end I got him because basically Dad distracted him while I snuck up around a tree and then pounced, and got him around the wings.

Then my Dad (who is a little nervous of the emus, and with pretty good reason) proceeded to watch as Sebastian struggled like mad and I refused to let go. It ended up with him pulling us both down to the ground, me still tenaciously clinging to his wings because he was NOT getting loose. During this he managed to somehow kick me in the arm just below my shoulder. Ouch.

So as I'm laying on the ground holding a thrashing bird, I ask my Dad if please maybe he could assist, lol. So Dad grabs him, I stand up, and we begin the fun task of walking him all the way back to the pen.

During this, I let my Dad take the position directly behind him, because that's where you won't get kicked. I stood to the side and yes, he tried to kick me. I dodged, but just barely (still holding onto his wings because, again, he was NOT getting away from me). He got my shirt and shredded it to pieces. That would have been my stomach had I not had fast enough reflexes.

So finally we get this bird back to the pen and shoved in. We then shored up the fence as best we could and headed out to buy fencing supplies to reinforce the heck out of the fence because apparently this bird is determined to escape and I don't want a repeat.

After changing my shirt, we call around to see if anyone has T Posts. Basically no one does. They're pretty impossible to get right now, which I suspect is Covid related. Finally Home Depot had seven foot U Posts. Not as sturdy as T Posts, and more expensive, but that's all we can find so hurray, those will have to do.

So $200 in fencing supplies later, we go back and shore up the fence. While doing this, we discover a widowmaker - a large dead tree caught up in the branches of another tree - that happens to also be overhanging my fenceline. So when this thing eventually comes down, it'll probably take out my fence and if an emu happens to be under it, it would probably take out the emu.

So that has to go, obviously. Now we can add tree removal to the day's festivities. So we get that done. Luckily we managed to do it in such a way that the fence was mostly fine. At one point one big chunk did fall and hit the fence, but all it did was pop it right off the post that was closest. So we fix that.

Today, I feel like I went ten rounds with a 100 pound bird, because I did. I am sore, my arm hurts, and I'm mad about my shirt, lol.

I told Sebastian if he gets out again, I'll eat him after breeding season.

 

[aart]

HolyCrap!!
Shirt ripped by claws?
Beautiful graphic on shirt, maybe can preserve what's left.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

You can wear the shirt the next time people misbehave around the emus....