Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Feral Emus

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Feral Emus

    I remember reading about some Texas emu farmers turning their emu stock loose into the wild in response to the emu market collapse 20 plus years qgo. I Googled feral emus in Texas and came across an article or two related to feral emu populations. My question is have any of you ever seen any feral emus, and if so in what part of the state did you see them? Any other observations, like do they travel alone, in pairs, or flocks?

    #2
    Saw a few in southern Gonzales county about 10 years ago.

    Comment


      #3
      No, but I'd shoot one in a heartbeat. They're very good eating.

      Comment


        #4
        I saw 2 in Runnel Co. about 15-20 years ago. They broke a few feeder timers pecking corn. I kind of regret not shooting them the one chance I got.

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by Dave_ View Post
          I saw 2 in Runnel Co. about 15-20 years ago. They broke a few feeder timers pecking corn. I kind of regret not shooting them the one chance I got.
          x2 Saw one on my place in Young county once. Never saw it again.

          Comment


            #6
            There may be some still running around but I bet not very many. Guy here in Fairfield turned out about 25 when he finally accepted the fact he was never going to make any money with them. You would see em every now and again in the pastures around his place, but there would always be fewer and fewer til they were all gone. Took several months but they all disappeared.

            Comment


              #7
              saw a few off 183 in gonzales county and we had a couple running around a ranch in dewitt county, last ones i remember were at least 15 years ago though.

              i guess the ground laying eggs couldn't stand up to fire ants or predators. seem like pretty tough birds when they got a little older

              Comment


                #8
                We had one on our place in Coleman county 10+ years ago. My dad may, or may not have herded it through an open gate. In any event, it didn’t stay long enough to get a chance to “hunt it”

                Comment


                  #9
                  NW of Abilene about 15 years ago I was driving down a fence line road and had one running on other side of the fence keeping up with me doing about 20mph!

                  We would have shot it except it was on neighbors land.

                  Told my BIL if it comes over the fence to go for a neck shot.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Yes, one tried to kill me. I Almost drove through a barbed wire fence trying to get away. It is scary when of all the things to jump out of a bush in texas and chase you turns out to be an emu.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Had one at our lake property years ago on Lake Livingston... Everyone in the neighborhood fed it. It became quite tame... loved lettuce and greens of all kinds... The kids loved it... Named it "Big Bird"... Then one day Big Bird just never showed up again... Suckers are big!!

                      Comment


                        #12
                        You used to hear about hunters seeing them on a pretty regular basis but it's been quite a few years. I guess there wasn't enough gone wild to reproduce and survive. That's probably a good thing - I don't know that we need another wild, feral non-native species

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Saw some in Gonzales County near Lavaca County line about 16-18 years ago. The turkey farmers shot them on sight due to scare of disease spread to their birds.


                          Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

                          Comment


                            #14
                            I killed one in Hardin County. It was years ago now. Back when the bottom fell out of the Emu market

                            Comment


                              #15
                              I have been told there is one on our property in LaSalle County. I have not seen it but my guys said they saw an ostrich at first. Then we surmised it was an EMU. Hasn't been seen in almost 3 years now. Who knows.

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X