‘Come Get Your Emu’: Memes Fly After Bird Bolts

Local family currently raising six of the big birds; ‘we love our emus’

By Vickie Babyak
The Tube City Almanac
September 03, 2024
Posted in: McKeesport and Region News

Two of the Callos’ family’s emus relax inside an enclosure at the family’s home. (Vickie Babyak photo)

It was a typical Saturday morning — until city residents spotted a giant Australian bird casually strolling down Soles Street.

By Saturday afternoon, videos, pictures and jokes were posted all over social media about an emu on the loose in McKeesport. Even the Pittsburgh Meme group got in on the social media action, and created humorous memes regarding the unusual event.

All joking aside, David and Carly Callos of McKeesport own the emu, and live in the city with their four children. After they realized their 6-foot-2, 120 pound bird had roamed away, they immediately jumped into action to retrieve him.

Callos was concerned that someone could accidentally harm the emu while trying to capture him. He said an emu is susceptible to neck injury if a person is not familiar with how to correctly handle them.

After Callos saved his emu from the street, the big fellow rode in the passenger’s seat of the truck until they got home safely, he said. “We love our emus,” Callos said.

Emus are native to Australia and are flightless birds. (Vickie Babyak photo)

Airiel Dawson of McKeesport is credited for the video of the emu wandering past houses and vehicles. Dawson posted it on her Facebook page and it quickly spread throughout the social media platform.

A number of readers commented that they were confused about where the emu belonged, or concerned for its well-being, others compared it to the LiMu Emu, the fictional character with his human sidekick Doug, portrayed in Liberty Mutual Insurance ads.

James Scott of North Huntingdon said in a comment, “This will go down in history as one of the funniest ’port moments in history.”

The Callos family are hobby farmers who own acreage outside of town, but live in their McKeesport home where they care for a flock of chickens and emus.
 
About 1 ½ years ago, Callos said he purchased two emus from Moonlight Valley Farm, LLC located in Aspers, Adams County, near Gettysburg. Not everyone knows that emus have three different colors: standard, blonde and rare white. The rare white emu has blue eyes, Callos said.

Since the family’s first emu purchase, Callos, purchased four more emus, and presently owns three females and three males. Each one is named after a troll from the DreamWorks “Trolls” movies, “Trolls,” “Trolls World Tour,” and “Trolls Band Together.”

“Their names are Poppy, Viva, Barb, Cooper, Floyd, and Branch. Cooper was the one who escaped,” Callos said.

Although they can’t fly, emus are fast runners and can reach speeds up to 31 mph. (Vickie Babyak photo)

Native to Australia, emus are the second-largest bird in the world, after ostriches. Females are slightly larger than the males. Although they can’t fly, emus are fast runners, high jumpers, strong swimmers and are very adaptable to diverse ecosystems.

Another interesting fact, emus are omnivorous, eating both plants and animals. They don’t have teeth, so the large birds swallow pebbles to grind up their food. Callos says he feeds his emus half rabbit grass pellets and half chicken feed.

Callos said the emu mating season starts around October to November, and he is looking forward to breeding his emus. Emu eggs are emerald green in color and about the size of a dozen chicken eggs. Like penguins, the male emu sits on the eggs to keep them warm until they hatch, then they raise the chicks, he said.

Although the family does not plan on eating their emus, Callos added that emu meat is a desirable replacement for beef, especially for those who have developed a serious red meat allergy caused by a lone star tick bite.  

Callos said he has raised chickens and other livestock for most of his life. He plans on continuing to raise and breed emus.

Vickie Babyak is a Dravosburg-based writer and photographer. She can be reached at vbabyak@yahoo.com.

Originally published September 03, 2024.

In other news:
"Voter Registration, I…" || "AG: Detective Siphone…"