Well, another lesson learned. When the emu farmer delivered the Emerys several months ago, he did say that because they were already 6 months old, they would be difficult to tame. And yes, it took awhile for me to be able to handfeed and pat them but, now that they are gone, I’ve remembered another thing he said which was that free-ranging them could be tricky because of their tendency to go walkabout.
Yesterday, when I found them in the next door paddock they were actually having a great time eating grass and bugs and grit. Cabbage couldn’t compete and even though (I thought) they were relieved to see me, and they cheeped fondly, all of my attempts to herd them back through the various spaces in the fences became futile.
In retrospect I don’t think they could hold the contradiction of their fondness for me and their fondness for freedom in their heads so, in wandering away rather than back, it’s obvious that they chose freedom. After all, they are nomadic creatures and they love to wander. By the time dusk fell yesterday, despite sighting them in other adjacent paddocks (which proves they could get through various fences), I had to give up. This morning they are nowhere to be seen so I imagine, like Wantok, they are now kilometres away up in the hills with other creatures of their kind. They are big enough now to defend themselves against foxes and they are instinctively nomadic and self-sufficient.
The remorse of having accidentally injured one of them in getting him over the fence will probably remain in my rolling heart for some time; that was the darkest of yesterday’s moments.
If our 5 acres of garden and 100 acres of farmland wasn’t enough for them, then I guess they made the right decision and it’s my loss, their gain. I will miss them but I won’t worry about them because they have probably already forgotten me anyway. Yes indeed, another lesson learned.
jmgoyder 