Emu fam with 15 chicks makes Nannup their home

Some people wake up to alarms blearing, cars honking and hustle and bustle, but in Nannup people are waking up to emus.

Whether it is in their front yard, the caravan park or the main drag, families of emus have taken to the country town and made it their home.

But while many residents love their avian visitors, they have been causing quite a stink as they leave scat in gardens and create a hazard on country roads. Tourists and residents are even being urged to take care on the roads, after a motorcyclist was injured after hitting one of the birds in December.

As a result, the Nannup Shire Council has issued a series of suggestions for harmonious living with the birds, including not feeding them or approaching them, and if confronted, making loud noises and squirting them with a garden hose.

The council will also arrange for signs to be positioned at each entrance of town to inform drivers that emus are in the area.

Nannup Caravan Park owner Julie May said a not-so-little family – a Dad with 15 or so chicks – strolled through the campsites about 8am each morning like clockwork, and people were loving it.

“They come, eat some of the fruit on our trees and go on their merry way,” she said.

Who wouldn’t want to see a whole emu family right next to them? It’s very special.

Southern Forests Blackwood Valley Tourism Association chief executive Wendy Duncan agreed.

“It’s a nice sight,” she said. “Especially in the context of the bushfires in the eastern states, where they are losing so many native animals.”

However, Mrs Duncan said people needed to remember that they were wild animals.

“They are quite big, and a male emu with chicks can be aggressive,” she said.

Enjoy looking at them and photographing them, but don’t get too close and whatever you do don’t feed them.