When you live or travel in Western Australia, you must be wary of wildlife anytime you are outdoors. One family found out that having a picnic means you might get an unexpected animal guest. While feeding their son, Banks, in a high chair outside, the parents watched a stray emu saunter up to steal food from the child.
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The family of six is caravanning around Australia. They parked their van at a farm for the night and settled in for dinner. The emu, which was raised on the farm, is comfortable around humans. Apparently, this emu likes cucumbers and felt compelled to steal food from young Banks.
As you can see, Banks was not at all concerned by the large bird stealing his dinner. He probably didn’t want that cucumber anyway. As the parents scramble to shoo the emu away to prevent it from stealing Banks’s food, the boy continues cooing away happily.
Emus Don’t Always Steal Food From Babies
Emus are fairly common birds in Australia. This large, flightless bird is second in size to the ostrich and can grow to five feet seven inches. The average weight for a male is between 110 and 121 pounds. Females are larger, weighing about 11 pounds more than male emus.
Females are the more aloof of this species. They mate, lay eggs, and then wander off. They may lay up to three clutches of eggs, leaving extra eggs in a stray nest for another male to care for. These stay-at-nest dads remain with the eggs for up to eight weeks until the eggs hatch. During incubation, the male may lose around one-third of his body weight.
When the avocado-sized eggs hatch, the chicks can walk almost immediately. At three days old, they can leave the nest. The young birds typically remain with their father for 18 months. The male emu teaches the chicks to steal find food and avoid predators.
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