I almost freaked out! If I'm lying, I'm dying....

[rateyes]

So, I'm driving home in Middle Georgia of all places and come within 3 feet of hitting one of these things as it ran out in front of my car. It ran off into the woods on the other side of the road after almost getting hit by a car coming in the other direction. I have NEVER seen one of these things before, and what the HELL is it doing running loose in Middle-freaking-GEORGIA?!!!!!

[plcdude]

1. emu

what is so unusual about that?

[Rising Phoenix]

2. oh yeah....

they are all over Boston...

[rateyes]

3. Are these things common in GA?

I've lived in the south (TN, TX, VA, GA) all my life, and have never seen one, except maybe in a zoo.

[Texasgal]

They are very common here in Texas..

They have Emu ranches all over the place.

[rateyes]

7. Why? Make boots out of them or something? nt

[Texasgal]

21. No... I think people

EAT 'EM! :)

[rateyes]

22. Must be expensive...nt

[ashling]

23. also, emu oil

is considered valuable.

[AllegroRondo]

6. Some people raise them on farms

for the meat. Ostriches too. Its supposed to taste like chicken/turkey and be very low in fat.

Maybe this one escaped?

[ET Awful]

9. Not to mention you only need one egg to make a HELL of an omelet

:P

[rateyes]

13. I don't know if I've got a frying pan that large...

:9

[rateyes]

10. Weird...

I didn't know people did anything with them...

Actually eat them, huh? I'daneverthunkit.

[China_cat]

20. Lots of emu and ostrich farms in GA and SC.

[ET Awful]

4. It's an Emu that flew south for the winter

:P

[rateyes]

5. All joking aside...

do these damned things fly?

[AllegroRondo]

8. no, but they can run 40+ MPH

and give a helluva kick.

[Taverner]

12. And they make a "WHOOOOP WHOOP" sound

I spent the night at an Emu ranch once and I swear I thought I was on Mars or soemthing

[rateyes]

15. Wow...

Learn something new every day.

[ET Awful]

11. No :) I was being a wiseass

One of my specialties :)

[rateyes]

14. OK.

Being a wiseass myself, that's alright. :toast:

[underpants]

17. An African Emu or an European Emu?

Sorry it had to be done

[rateyes]

18. lol nt

[Arkansas Granny]

16. For what it's worth, a friend told me the other day that some people

who were raising these for meat have turned them loose because the market for the meat was not worth the time and effort to raise them. Don't know where he got his information, but it prompted another friend to relate a story of going to a farm and killing a whole herd (flock?) of them for the owner who no longer wanted to raise them and couldn't sell them. Like I said, for what it's worth.

[rateyes]

19. Wow...

good to know....I'll keep a look out for more of them...This was just outside "city" limits...Go figure.