Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/10/19/emu-is-in-love-enjoys-skritch.html
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Those of us who grew up in the UK in the 1970s know this never ends well:
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Who’s a good dinosaur, you are, you are!
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Gonna have her work cut out for her with that one…
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Huh. I do not think of emus as cuddly. I think of them as animals that will kick the shit out of you with their razor-claws.
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Cuddly only in comparison to cassowaries.
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Seeing that clip pulled The Hudson Brothers out of deep memory. I feel I saw Rod Hull on some other show. The Electric Company, maybe?
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There is a time for everything.
Kicking ass with razor-claws AND cuddles, apparently.
Who knew?
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…while simultaneously pecking your face off.
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November the second, 1932: A day which will live in infamy.
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How birds behave to you of course depends on who you are to them, but even if they like you, it can be fraught.
I don’t know about emus, but parrots enjoy allopreening; the birds preen each others’ head feathers, and it makes them feel better. My bird really likes to have the teensy feathers between her beak and eye scritched. But then when she’s had enough, I find out when she pins her pupils at me and/or chews on my hand.
Also, I used to have two budgies, and the male would want to snuggle with the female, but most of the time she chased him away. Until she wanted allopreening; then she’d head butt him a few times, and he’d preen the feathers on her head.
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The emu in the OP is exceptionally tame; wild emus have a strong tendency to forcefully peck at anything that comes within range. Which, thanks to the long neck, is about five feet.
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What a cute skeksis.
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There is such a fine line between love and kick-the-shit-out-of-you-with- their-razor-claws hate.
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But for Xeni having posted the story, I’d swear that someone wanted to recruit people here into signing up for Twitter.
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Never, ever, under any circumstances, jostle a cassowary in a bar if it’s holding a drink. And avoid eye contact.
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I’d like to give that bird a hug too.
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I’ve skritched an emu… there is/was a very personable (and closely supervised) one at the Auckland Zoo that enjoyed a bit of fuss from people.
I skritched a cheetah once too (won’t say where); the beast had a bone shivering purr and liked to meet people (its buddy not so much, he basically ignored us). I was on a high for the rest of the day.
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That was brilliant!
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so basically a cat.
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