THEY'RE LIKE GIGANTIC CHICKENS ON CRACK :

Starving emus hit Australian crops (Kathy Marks, 18 August 2002, Independent uk)

Mobs of famished emus are wreaking havoc in the Australian Outback, crashing through fences and devouring crops as they flee the country's worst drought in decades.

Some farmers have had just enough rain to plant one crop, only to watch their annual income disappear into the emus' capacious bellies. The towering, flightless birds can eat 2lb of grain a day. They have migrated south in their thousands, laying waste to large tracts of agricultural land.

The problem is so serious that farmers are calling for a widespread cull of emus, which are a protected species and appear on the national coat of arms alongside the kangaroo. Hungry kangaroos are also invading farming country, but emus are more destructive and compete with livestock for food.

They make good boot leather. Posted by Orrin Judd at August 24, 2002 7:50 PM