Five Fun Facts About Emus

With my book launch almost here, for both “Emma the Eager Emu” and “Alien Shenanigans” meaning double the fun with double the books launched!
I thought it was time to have a fun look at a few fascinating facts about emus. 
My very first memory of an encounter with an actual live emu was when I was ten years old and I visited Symbio or what it was then called, Helensburgh Zoo, nestled in a quiet little town in the middle of Sydney’s Royal National Park. We were having a picnic lunch, (as you do) and I was happily eating my sandwhich, (most likely vegemite) when I turned away to look at a friendly hairy nose wombat that came wobbling towards me. Next thing I knew, an emu had snuck up from behind and stretched out its long neck and snatched my sandwhich from my grasp.
This leads me to fun fact no 1.
1. Emus love to steal food from unsuspecting picnicers and campers. If Emus are around when you are eating, keep an eye on your food at all times!
2. Emus have rather long necks and very sharp beaks which they can use to their advantage when sneaking up to steal your food.
3. Emus have big beady eyes, (all the better to see your food with). These eyes have two different eyelids. One is used for blinking just like you and me, the other is used to keep out the dust, and it gets very dusty in the Australian Outback.
4. An emus egg is enormous! They are very thick shelled, dark green and weigh about 1/2kg or 1lb. After the mother lays 7 or 8 eggs, it is actually the daddy who sits on them to keep them warm until they hatch.  The illustrated emu egg pictured here has been hand painted by an Indigenous Australian, beside it lays a chicken egg for you to compare their size.
5. The emu is the tallest bird in Australia, second only in the world to the Ostrich. An emu stands up to 2m tall or almost 6.5 feet, so her legs are very, very long! In fact she can run so fast, she has been said to “run the pants off a kangaroo!”
Below is the link to the Wiggles performing the classic song “Old Man Emu” who can “Run the pants off a kangaroo!” Love It hope you do too!
Old Man Emu by the Wiggles.
Don’t forget the book launches.
1. Paperchain Manuka (Canberra) 11:00 am Saturday 16th May 15
2. Shine Gifts Cullen Bay (Darwin) 5-9 pm, Friday 22nd May 15