Yesterday’s emu fiasco went like this:
- 6pm: Joyous discovery that the three Emerys were still in that paddock adjacent to our paddock (on the corner of two roads)
- 6.10pm: Son and I cancel dinner with my mum and make a plan to herd emus back into our paddock
- 6.15pm: We drive down our road and turn right into the other road and park near the gate to the paddock
- 6.16pm: Son walks into the paddock to herd emus to the gate and out onto the road. The plan is to herd them, with me in the car, and Son on foot, up the road and around the corner into our road and up to our driveway and into our property
- 6.40pm: Son gets the emus out of the paddock and into the road and, with my car lights flashing, I follow as Son walks them to the corner
- 6.45pm: Two cars going in opposite directions on the road are forced to stop to allow us our slow journey. I have to jump in and out of the car to stop the Emerys from coming back. This is difficult as emus can run backwards!
- 6.55pm: We eventually reach the corner and the people in both cars get out and help us to get the emus to turn into our road. Hilarity and thank yous are exchanged, then they all drive off
- 7pm: With Son walking in front of the emus, and me driving behind, we gradually get them close to our driveway. Dusk is falling.
- 7.10pm: The emus get to a little bridge and won’t cross it, so begin to run back towards my car. I leap out and shoo them back up
- 7.12: The situation repeats itself
- 7.14: And again. They will not cross the bridge
- 7.15: Again – back and forth, back and forth. By now I have abandoned the car and I, too, am on foot
- 7.30: Success at last; I have them running towards Son who is right next to our paddock. We decide to open a gate into our paddock instead of trying to get them all the way to our driveway, which is just past the stupid bridge
- 7.31: Just before they get to our gate, they all push through into the same paddock (adjacent to ours) where they were in the first place
- 7.32: Son begins to yell in frustration when I follow them (getting a nasty shock from the electric fence – I’m not quite sure why this didn’t deter the emus)
- 7.33: I try herding them but, because it is now getting dark, they go all skittish and run in all directions. I have the vague hope of herding them through the fence into our paddock, but it doesn’t work
- 7.40: Son screams ‘give up, Mum – it’s not worth it!’
- 7.41: I walk back to the road and get into the car with Son who is exhausted in his back brace and in a rage
- 7.42: We drive the tiny distance home in a frenzy of frustration
- 8pm: The howling begins and ends
- 8.30pm: Son and I agree that one day, in the far-off future, this might be a funny story….
- 9pm: I find photos taken previously, during emu-walking, that illustrate this post
- 9.05pm: Son tells me I am crazy and I tell him he is right
- 9.10pm: We exchange a reluctant hug and begin to plan tomorrow’s emu adventure
jmgoyder 
Gah! Silly Emus. 😦
I’m sorry.
We now have a new plan for tomorrow including a lot more humans to help! If you feel like dropping in to give a hand that would be great – hahahaha!
You know I would be there if I were there…
~ L
Ha – thanks!
I hope it all goes well though that might make for a duller post.
I have a small army of neighbours helping tomorrow (couldn’t get help today) so here’s hoping. I should probably ring the local news station – ha!
That is way too much work!
Yes, and we are doing it again today with the help of neighbours!
What about a lasso? Have you tried a lasso? Get some cowboys involved 🙂
They’re back! I’m gonna tell them off and take pics and do a post – I am sooooo happy!!!!!!