Wombat attacks man!

[JimC]

Heard a story about emus over in WA one time. During the war (second variety) they had internment camps out in the bush for new arrivals who weren't totally trusted. This included a lot of Italians.

The camps weren't all that horrendous and the guards were pretty laid back. They used to let people go out for the day as long as they came back for dinner. So, one day one of the blokes is late and people are starting to get a bit worried about him. He finally staggers back into the camp looking like hell. Clothes all ripped up, scratches and blood all over him, and generally looking pretty freaked out.

"What the fuck happened to you?"
"I was walking in the forest and I saw these chickens. Beautiful little brown chickens with stripes on them. I wanted to bring some back to the camp so I went to get a couple. Then, this huge chicken comes out of nowhere and starts attacking me! I had to run for my life!"

For non-Aussies, a critical bit of information is that young emus are striped (the stripes disappear later), and that the parents are very protective...

[Faithfree]

Heard a story about emus over in WA one time. During the war (second variety) they had internment camps out in the bush for new arrivals who weren't totally trusted. This included a lot of Italians.

The camps weren't all that horrendous and the guards were pretty laid back. They used to let people go out for the day as long as they came back for dinner. So, one day one of the blokes is late and people are starting to get a bit worried about him. He finally staggers back into the camp looking like hell. Clothes all ripped up, scratches and blood all over him, and generally looking pretty freaked out.

"What the fuck happened to you?"
"I was walking in the forest and I saw these chickens. Beautiful little brown chickens with stripes on them. I wanted to bring some back to the camp so I went to get a couple. Then, this huge chicken comes out of nowhere and starts attacking me! I had to run for my life!"

For non-Aussies, a critical bit of information is that young emus are striped (the stripes disappear later), and that the parents are very protective...

The bird was probably still bitter about the Emu War of 1932.
http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/4508317
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emu_War

[Ele]

Emus are usually OK. But cassowaries are Australia's very aggressive and dangerous flightless birds - they'll chase you and rip your guts out with their long claws if the mood strikes Just like this crazy cassowary getting aggro at some trees:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0wsiLWLQLU&NR=1[/youtube]