Both can strike at speeds faster than a mammal can respond - we need 202milliseconds (ms) just to blink and between 60-395ms to start moving say our hand out of the way of a snake. The snake meanwhile can strike and reach a target in 50-90ms.

Source: www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3493624/When-snakes-STRIKE-High-speed-footage-reveals-reptiles-pounce-prey-blink-eye.html

Men with WW1 Lewis machine guns with government assistance tried to shoot thousands of our large flightless birds. Eventually despite this period newsreel it all proved very unsuccessful and the Emus won the war. Although with a bounty still on them many thousands were killed in the years that followed.

Piper works in all weather conditions at Traverse City’s Cherry Capital Airport in Michigan US, working (with breaks) four ten hour shifts a week. Piper patrols the area chasing rodents, other mammals and even birds of prey away from dangerous collisions with aircraft. In one recent incident Piper fractured a toe deploying from the vehicle to chase off a Snowy owl. Pictured here with his cast on.

Working dogs so bred usually just love their tasks. I used to pick up a rather clever bearded collie film dog. He had a regular role in a TV show in the UK. So keen to work was he that when I got to his house he was sitting by the door, lead in his mouth, and a brush on the floor waiting for me. When we got into the studio he would belt around greeting familiar faces before awaiting his acting instructions. And he loved getting his coat brushed so he looked his best before going on set.

Essentially sailors mostly ate them in a very short time in the 17th Century. Any survivors were finished off by introduced feral animals, from discovery to extinction in around 60 years. First spotted in 1598 and all gone by 1662.

What amazed me when I read a book about them is that we really don’t know what they looked like or just how big they were. Accounts say it was pigeon and swan like but much larger. There are very few skeletons ever found and just the odd preserved leg or beak in museum collections overseas.

Few people at the time wrote about them and only a dozen or so rough sketches of them were ever made.

Recent reports in the news about our declining species here in Australia makes you realise the Woylie (Bettongia penicillata), Gilberts potoroo (Potorous gilbertii) and the Orange bellied parrot (Neophema chrysogaster) are all but Dodos in waiting.

Simply put, we need more done to reduce and remove feral animals, more habitat preservation and rehabilitation, more capacity to breed rare species in captivity and I think a change in government policy to allow us to keep as companion animals our own native mammal species. Why not a backyard woylie or quokka? Outlaw cats over next few decades and encourage farming and captive care of natives.

What do you think? Can’t hurt but to try, can it?

Phone orders/credit card only.

The snake was caught and kept in an office and the wildlife department called. Although apparently fed mice and meats! the snake died a short time later.

Unfortunately from the available footage (right), the poor creature was mishandled in almost every frame of the video, from having a tight noose around its neck to being yanked and pulled and twisted onto people’s shoulders for photos.

It died I am sure from poor handling leading to fatal injuries. It was also probably gravid so would have needed extra care when handled as to not damage any eggs within her body. It has been stated it was 7.5 metres long and weighed 250kg.

Such a shame it couldn’t have been measured and weighed by some professional herpetologists and then released or placed in a wildlife centre. It would no doubt have been a huge crowd-puller.

Indeed handling Emus needs great skill and timing. The emu farmer who moved the two from NAR for release recently, had a few scars from wrangling these huge birds in the past. The legs are very strong, featherless and mostly covered in scaly plates.

Each foot has three toes and each toe has a sharp claw and they will kick out for defence with great accuracy and power.

Most of their predators are long extinct like giant monitor lizards and other carnivores that once roamed Australia. Dingoes and eagles will still take them, especially younger more vulnerable individuals.

In WA emus have distinct migratory movements travelling north in the summer months and back southwards in winter. Elsewhere, and they occur widely across the country, their movements are considered more random.

Largely diurnal the birds graze on a wide range of fruits, grasses and seeds and also for protein on many insects and other arthropods such as millipedes, spiders, grasshoppers and no doubt anything that can be easily grabbed.

It is reported that usually the males grunt and females boom, no delicate song but the booming can be heard from up to 2km away. The sound is made with an inflatable throat pouch. I’ve heard it close up and its quite intimidating for sure. It is used to assert control over a territory, as part of mating ritual and a threat to rivals.

Emus pair up in the summer months of December and January and may stay together for 4/5 months mating between April and June in the coolest months.

The males construct a rather simple nest, often no more than a scrape in the ground. After mating some 5-15 eggs are laid and the male then takes up residence. During the 8 weeks of incubation he won’t leave the nest or eat, drink or defecate. He may lose a third of his body weight during the incubation period. Once they hatch the striped juveniles stay around the male for several months and as their stripes fade they start to become fully independent usually all moving away by 6 months of age. They are fully grown at around a year and can breed from around 20 months of age. They have a lifespan of up to 30 years.

Surprisingly Emus are farmed overseas in many countries, their oil, meat, leather and fats being quite sought after commodities. It is estimated around 1 million are farmed in the US, China and Peru.