You know you want to feed me.....

and then you'll never get rid of me....
Emus flock into Monkey Mia as it offers them easy access to water - and forbidden foods.... :)

[Carole Sandford]

Great shot of this unusual ( for me ) bird. Don’t see many pictures of them, are they fairly rare, or in places where humans aren’t?

[Delwyn Barnett]

Must be so unusual to see an emu in a clearly built up place.

[Rick]

Hope you had something to get behind after the shot. Great capture.

[Diana]

Fabulous shot of this lovely visitor!

[bkb in the city]

Great capture

[Jacqueline]

Wow, it looks so big!

[Susan Wakely]

Cheeky bird. I wouldn’t want to argue with it.

[Korcsog Károly]

Great shot! The photo piqued my interest in the emu. I did not know that they are also bred for human consumption. Its meat is very healthy and its fat contains a lot of omega 3 and 6 fatty acids.

[haskar]

Great capture. We have problems with wild boars. Accustomed by people, they force food on the streets.

[Shutterbug]

Nice capture of this interesting bird. Seems like there is always some animal or bird that learns humans are sources of food and water.

[JackieR]

@carole_sandford one ran past the open door of our villa on my birhtday there!!

[Rob Z]

Hi everyone - thanks for your comments about the emu. You tend to see them most easily in places like this - fairly isolated and in pretty harsh country. They can survive there but have a constant battle to find water. They soon learn that it's easier to live with man and his water supply. And they do get very pushy when they are fed as well. You can also see them quite often when you're on the road. Cheers Rob
@dkbarnett @rickster549 @jacqbb @wakelys @shutterbug49 @carole_sandford

[Rob Z]

@kork Hi Korcsog Thanks for your reply. And you are quite correct - emu is eaten quite a lot over here - mainly in restaurants but you can also buy it in quite a few butchers. I always feel a bit bad eating them though - they are such comical animals...... :)

[Rob Z]

@haskar Hi Haskar. It's taken a long while for people over here to realize that feeding wild animals is a bad thing. There has been a big educational push highlighting how bad it is for the animals and how it can change their behaviour. It's been quite clearly shown by the behavious of dingoes in particular. Things are gradually improving.

[Ann H. LeFevre]

Too funny! We have a similar issue with people feeding deer and black bears. People feed the deer the wrong things (like bread) and then they think they are full. But their stomachs cannot digest the food and they actually starve to death. The bears become very aggressive- some have even broken into homes to get food!l Good catch!