Wild Fact #896 – Oakley's Newest Model – Emu
So I was watching the video clip of Johnny Carson’s animal segment that was discussed in the comment section of the Kinkajou post. Anyway, at the end of the clip was a special feature about a very rare blue emu. It got me thinking that I should do a post on one of the largest birds on the planet, the emu.
As mentioned, the emu is a very large bird standing at 2 meters (6.6′) in height and can weigh up to 150 pounds. The emu is a flightless bird with very small wings that are usually covered by their feathers. Don’t worry though, the wings do serve a purpose to help stabilize the emu while it is running. Speaking of running, like most flightless birds, the emu is a very fast runner. They have been clocked at 50 km/hr (30 miles/hour). When you think about it, these birds can be caught for speeding if running thru a school zone!
The emu also have long necks, small ears and an very sharp beak. The feet of the emu are long with three toes. One of those toes actually has a large talon that is used for fighting. In my opinion the coolest thing about the emu is the fact that it has two sets of eyelids. The first set does the actual blinking while the other set keeps out the dust. I wonder if they can get designer brand eyelids such as Rayban or Oakley.
Emu Fast Fact: The emu requires a lot of water and needs to drink every day. On average the emu will drink 2 to 4 gallons of water, daily!
Thanks for reading everyone! Enjoy the weekend!
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January 15th, 2010 at 2:39 AM
I have a friend that has a couple of Emus – the drumming sound that they make is quite bizarre (sounds kind of like “the natives are getting restless”
)
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Nathan Reply:
January 15th, 2010 at 7:35 AM
That is pretty interesting, Jen! You are now going to make me go and google a sound clip for the emu. “The natives are getting restless”…. LOL! That is a pretty good way to describe it!
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Jen Reply:
January 16th, 2010 at 7:41 AM
@Nathan, *Laugh* Actually, I was kind of surprised you didn’t already have one (you’re always so thorough
) While you may not appreciate this, I gave you an award for your blog. Which, now that I think about it, is probably YOUR fault for having such an interesting one…but I digress. It is on my blog, if you would like to come and “collect” it (via virtual cut & paste). Have a super Saturday!
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Nathan Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 3:18 PM
Thank you so much for thinking about Wild Facts when passing along the award. It really does me a lot to me especially when the honour comes from someone such as yourself. You have a great site and deserved the award to begin with. Congratulations!
I will accept the award but I will not follow all of the conditions that are tied to it.
Thanks again for thinking of Wild Facts! I really do appreciate the gesture!
January 15th, 2010 at 6:33 AM
I have a friend who’s terrified of emus… off to recommend this blog to her…
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Nathan Reply:
January 15th, 2010 at 7:36 AM
I have to agree with Jan! That is just mean! Funny but mean!
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January 15th, 2010 at 7:22 AM
Larissa, you are a baaddd girl! But I liked the article.
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Nathan Reply:
January 15th, 2010 at 7:36 AM
LOL
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January 15th, 2010 at 12:16 PM
Awesome birds – lot of emu farms were popping up a while back, for their meat I guess. Doesn’t appeal to me. Think I’ll stick to turkey and chicken.
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January 15th, 2010 at 3:03 PM
Actually Bev, there are quite a number of emu products on sale at the St Lawrence Mkt. in Toronto and one of them is emu oil for its medicinal properties.
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