The Emu War | Hacker News Reader

The Emu War

en.wikipedia.org

80 pointsareoform34 comments

I miss the "war box" one where it listed the opposing factions leadership and the Great Emu Emperor. Also, in the casualty box, Australia's listed 10,000 rounds of ammunition and their dignity.

LOL apparently there's a long history of those edits, reverting + protecting the page, un-protecting it, and it happening again.

Here's one: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Emu_War&oldid=477...

We have this weird self-depreciating pride about losing the War, and like to talk it up a bit. It doesn't surprise me that a bunch of larrikans keep trying to put it back on the page. Pushing back against Wiki's uptight rules on seriousness like this is a great example of the subversive Aussie humour. Good on 'em!

I've never seen the term for my username in the wild outside of a thesaurus and a band that was popular a long time ago.

That emu face in the primary pic is just perfect.

For some details, just having a citation entry is perfect:

"[18] Request to Use Bombs to Kill Emus, The (Adelaide) Mail, (Saturday, 3 July 1943), p.12."

-----

(From "Aftermath: Despite the problems encountered with the cull, the farmers of the region once again requested military assistance in 1934, 1943, and 1948, only to be turned down by the government.[2][18]")

I can only hope that it comes back, I've laughed so hard at that little overview box so many times...

Absurdity, if truly representative of the truth, shouldn't be hidden it should be remembered for what it was even if that invokes giggles and laughs.

Tangentially related, I think this is now the only war article on Wikipedia featuring non-human combatants since the admins have reverted the Emu War one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gombe_Chimpanzee_War

> Instead, the bounty system that had been instigated in 1923 was continued, and this proved to be effective: 57,034 bounties were claimed over a six-month period in 1934.

Someone probably started raising the birds to cash in on the bounty.

That’s what happened with feral hogs:

https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/gimletmedia.com/amp/shows/re...

It's known as the Cobra effect: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobra_effect

The good old cobra effect at work!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobra_effect

Nowadays with cheap gene testing/PCR, you could probably flag people who are turning in too many related animals for bounties.

>This time the gunners waited until the birds were in close proximity before opening fire. The gun jammed after only twelve birds were killed and the remainder scattered before any more could be shot

Reading this account almost seemed like the real life version of "Star Trek Crew Meets the Road Runner" https://boards.fool.com/star-trek-crew-meets-the-road-runner...

It is easy to mock the Australian army but when the Commonwealth needed them they answered the call. Same with the Canadians.

Exactly, and the Australians and other colonials died gloriously for the empire. What a waste. I’m a sarcastic New Zealander.

We should have sent the emus.

Did New Zealanders also participate in the Emu war?

So it's more like the Galactic Empire soldiers meeting the road runner?

That’s the strangest analogy I’ve ever heard for WW2!

I have been maintaining a list of interesting facts in Wikipedia. It’s kind of a supplement to their Unusual Articles [1].

My list can be found here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Chris.sherlock

Emu Wars is one of the facts I know of.

1. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Unusual_articles

Thanks for the great list, now to disappear down the wikihole :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXpu6tbFCsI

For those who like to laugh about this, one of my favorite subreddits is https://www.reddit.com/r/Emuwarflashbacks/

I legitimately thought this was just an Aussie joke.

Huh.

Having Australian in-laws has ruined my ability to discern sarcasm.

Wait till you find out about Drop Bears!

Some good info on them here from the Australian Museum.

https://australianmuseum.net.au/learn/animals/mammals/drop-b...

Standard Warning Poster - Widespread in Tourist areas.

https://www.thetraveltart.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Dro...

> The Emu command had evidently ordered guerrilla tactics, and its unwieldy army soon split up into innumerable small units that made use of the military equipment uneconomic.

Would like to know what other tactics were employed by the "Emu command". :)

The Dollop podcast did a great episode on this: https://allthingscomedy.com/podcasts/111---the-emu-war-live

I can't help but notice that the official coat of arms for Australia contains on it an emu.

I need to hear an episode of the podcast “The Dollop” on this one

TLDR: The Emus won ...

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