On April 1, 2000, (April Fool's Day of course) we celebrated Abbey's 7th Birthday. During the birthday party, a stray EMU wandered into our yard.
We had mixed thoughts about the emu coming into our yard with 13 little kids running around -- we had thought maybe this bird was quite agressive. He made his way into a patch of woods on our property and hung out. He was fed some pretzels from the party, and turned out to be quite docile.
I had contacted local authorities to try to have someone come and capture him. While I was making the calls to 911, and the humane officer and the police department, my neighbor had captured him by throwing a laso around his neck. At this point, no one really knew just want to do with him. Luckily, I have a barn with a fenced in area and we put him in there until we could find the owner and/or have someone come and get him. At this point, I decided to name him Jake.
We are in the process of trying to find a home for Jake. Many places on the internet advertise Emu meat and oils and skin care products. Since I have become very attached to Jake, I am trying to find a home for him where he will become a pet, not a market item.
If you are intersted in keeping an emu for a pet, please email me at msdundee@nauticom.net and I will get back with you.
If you would like to see the TV News report that was done on our capture of Jake, please go to www.KDKA.com and search their video archives for EMU.