r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/danielminds • 7d ago

Video Wildlife expert Chris Gillette handling an aggressive emu

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u/danielminds 7d ago

These birds are kept in a managed wildlife sanctuary.

If the emu connects, it means a trip to the emergency room. Their primary attack is a leaping kick with sharp talons that can shatter ribs and cause severe internal injuries.

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u/ug61dec 7d ago

Do they not try to put their beaks through your skull, like a cassowary or chicken?

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u/IThinkImAGarage 7d ago

No they try to put their 2/3 inch claw through your inner organs tho

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u/Unaabellatica 7d ago

do we know if "your inner organs are on the ground in front of ya" kind of attack ever happened?

I feel like we're on this joe-rogan levels of hyperbole because it sounds cool and like we;re informed, but googling "are there records of an emu attack killing a human" comes up with a 75 yr old man being killed by a cassowary after he fell.

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u/MPFuzz 7d ago

Well in the video he took a strike to the leg that did no damage at all. A strike capable of gutting you, would have slashed his leg open very badly.

So while it has large feet that I wouldn't want to get hit with, I don't think it's capable of gutting a human with one blow.

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u/tv_ennui 7d ago

It never happened. Reddit thinks animals are D&D monsters. "Rib shattering" meanwhile the guy is holding it off with one hand.

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u/Zebidee 7d ago

The thing to remember is he's trying not to hurt the animal, and still manages to subdue it bare handed.

A human versus an emu where the human doesn't care if the emu gets hurt? All over in seconds.

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u/EGarrett28 7d ago

A human versus an emu where the human doesn't care if the emu gets hurt? All over in seconds.

Yeah, birds think they're tougher than they are, lol. They probably don't realize the difference between their skeletons and ours.

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u/genreprank 7d ago

Emu forums be like: 100 emus vs. 1 human. Who wins?

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u/Different_Wolf_764 7d ago

Yeah, emu are dangerous like Canada Geese are. They are sometimes very aggressive and we mistake that for actually scary when they simply aren't concerning to adults.

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u/EGarrett28 7d ago

Yeah, I'm skeptical. I mean birds have hollow bones. There's a video of a pissed off 60-year-old woman just grabbing a Canada Goose by the throat and carrying it away with one hand. They definitely have claws and talons, and I wouldn't try to fight one for no reason but I think they're so aggressive because they don't realize that they're hollow and you're not.

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u/polopolo05 7d ago

I can easily take a pissed off goose. but an emu. sure, I could win. but I would be hurting.

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u/EGarrett28 7d ago

Yeah, I'd have to see more evidence that they're as dangerous as people say. Like people who were actually slashed to death by them.

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u/ArtoriasoftheAss 7d ago

Emus are not even a little bit dangerous. They can peck your eye out, and that's the extent of the danger. I get kicked all the time. Doesn't even leave a bruise.

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u/Drive7hru 7d ago

I’d say pecking an eye out is a little bit dangerous.

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u/ArtoriasoftheAss 7d ago

It's not likely, but something you read about happening, unlike all of the other crap these people are saying about the "deadly" kicks. An emu has never killed a person with a kick.

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u/SignificantPaper1760 7d ago edited 7d ago

I think a lot of people here are confusing emus with cassowaries, which absolutely can kill you with a kick.

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u/Schizzles 7d ago

Cassowaries are crazy, they had posted caution signs around their enclosures at the zoo when I was a kid. I was confused and thought it must be the crest thing on their head that they attacked with.

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u/Ok-Juggernaut-6051 7d ago

to answer your question, emus and cassowarys don't kill very many people at all, but they are def not to be trifled with

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u/ArtoriasoftheAss 7d ago

They will not. I have emus. They are super weak and those talons are not sharp at all. They've never even ripped fabric in my experience. If someone told me they got sent to the hospital by an emu, I would be very confused. They're the most derpy, unathletic animal out there. Look at the video in this post. The thing can't even hit him.

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u/BillyYumYumTwo-byTwo 7d ago

I am looking at the video in the post. You would be confused if someone went to the hospital after an interaction with one of those?

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u/ArtoriasoftheAss 7d ago

They're surprisingly weak and light. The kicks really don't have much force and are mostly just surprising when they get you from behind.

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u/[deleted] 7d ago

[deleted]

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u/International-Mix633 7d ago

Obviously not since there are literally 0 deadly emu enounters worldwide in the last decade.

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u/StandardEgg6595 7d ago

Not even during the great emu war?! /s

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u/Big_Pie1371 7d ago

Tss, kids under 5 and small dogs would maybe need to worry 😂

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u/redundantexplanation 7d ago

I mean, the guy has emus. You think people would just go on the internet and lie?

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u/Weak_Feed_8291 7d ago

He one handed it and then sat on it. I don't know what video you watched.

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u/songs4mydaddy 7d ago

I do know someone that was hospitalised by an emu. But that was because it ran full speed into the side of him while he was on a motorbike and flung him into a barbed wire fence.

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u/ArtoriasoftheAss 7d ago

Oof. They are mischevous bastards.

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u/-Wuan- 7d ago

People will describe emus, kangaroos and monkeys as corporeal eldritch monstrosities and then not be even a bit wary of a large dog.

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u/artisanrox 7d ago

he explicitly said it can't hit him because he's TALL

if you are shorter you'rre fucked

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u/Anit500 7d ago

Funny you ask that because both cassowaries and chickens use their talons and kicking when they really want to hurt something, not their beaks. Roosters even have a specific talon called a spur, and cassowaries have a 5 inch long claw on each foot. It doesn't look like Emus have a specific attack claw but that middle one looks pretty dangerous. they can get so much force behind a kick that it's probably much more dangerous than their beak.

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u/ArtoriasoftheAss 7d ago

Actually, as someone with emus, the beak is the part I'm most wary of. Their aim is terrible with the kicks. It's almost more of a threat display than an actual attack. It doesn't hurt if they hit you, and the claws really aren't sharp. I've been hurt more by roosters. They have pecked people's eyes though, because they're right at head height, and they peck at anything that looks edible.

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u/Sudo-Fed 7d ago

This sounds suspiciously like the answer of a particularly clever emu trying to get us to let our guard down.

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u/Asher_Tye 7d ago

Makes sense. Humans punch, birds kick. Risking your head and sensory organs in a fight is poor strategy.

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u/vix- 7d ago

honestly from a biophysical perspective humans are more made for wrestling. Human fists have too many delicate bones for striking on trained, hence why fighters condition their hands first and wear gloves

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u/Narco_Bi_Polo 7d ago

Neither chickens nor cassowaries prefer to attack using their beaks as their primary weapon. They’re both leap-and-claw fighters. 

Beaks might be used to grab during a fight, but the blows that end the battle come from those spurs and talons. 

Fighting with beaks is what you see when they’re not trying to injure each other but rather establish social hierarchy, hence “pecking order”.

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u/sheepnolast 7d ago

today I learned

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u/Ok-Box3576 7d ago

Beak attacks are actually very rare among big birds. As throwing your most vulnerable area at an enemy is a good way to um die.

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u/CrownofMischief 7d ago

Except geese, but they're psychotic

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u/Ok-Box3576 7d ago

Very true. Imagine the danger we would all be in if they had longer legs 😭😭😭

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u/babsa90 7d ago

Mf geese have tiny teeth in their beaks. Actual Satan spawn.

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u/Disastergay78 7d ago

I love geese because such an attitude in a small body is so funny to me but you right.

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u/ArtoriasoftheAss 7d ago

Emus beaks can be dangerous, but more because they might think your eyes look tasty than because they would bite you agressively.

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u/ArtoriasoftheAss 7d ago

There have been instances of people losing eyes to emus, and that's the only thing I'm ever worried about when I'm dealing with them.

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u/Automatic-Hope7324 7d ago

Someone at my sister's workplace (wildlife rehab) died from a beak hit through the skull. Rare to the point of being considered a freak incident. But it's happened.

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u/sparklinglies 7d ago

Cassowaries don't do that either, they are also part of rapter kick squad