1 00:00:01,840 --> 00:00:04,360 Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:06,680 --> 00:00:10,560 Speaker 2: Hey brain Stuff. I'm Lauren Bogelbaum and this is a 3 00:00:10,640 --> 00:00:14,400 Speaker 2: classic from the vault. In this one, we did into 4 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:18,200 Speaker 2: the weird moment in history when Australia went to war 5 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:23,759 Speaker 2: with a local population of EMUs and absolutely lost. 6 00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:28,920 Speaker 3: Hey brain Stuff, Lauren bogolbam here with the story of 7 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:32,800 Speaker 3: the Emu War. It begins after World War One when 8 00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:35,720 Speaker 3: soldiers returned home to Australia. The government was eager to 9 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:37,040 Speaker 3: show its support for veterans. 10 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:38,080 Speaker 1: Take land. 11 00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:42,000 Speaker 3: The government said, grow wheat and we'll pay handsomely for it. 12 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:43,920 Speaker 3: It was a mission for the bright eyed and hopeful, 13 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:47,040 Speaker 3: for men eager to cultivate their futures. As they cultivated 14 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:50,600 Speaker 3: the soil in Western Australia. You could say the plan 15 00:00:50,720 --> 00:00:53,800 Speaker 3: was flawed from the start. The government had ninety thousand 16 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:56,760 Speaker 3: hectors that's two hundred and twenty two thousand acres to 17 00:00:56,840 --> 00:00:59,560 Speaker 3: go around, but that wasn't enough for the nearly five 18 00:00:59,560 --> 00:01:02,639 Speaker 3: thousand veterans who wanted it. Land was doled out as 19 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:05,600 Speaker 3: it became available, and the choicest lots were given away first. 20 00:01:05,959 --> 00:01:08,480 Speaker 3: The remaining veterans got land in Perth, which was not 21 00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:11,800 Speaker 3: ideal for farming. What's more, in the years that followed 22 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:14,679 Speaker 3: the initial land handout, in the early nineteen twenties, Western 23 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:19,399 Speaker 3: Australia combated drought, frost, and a significant rabbit infestation. While 24 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:22,920 Speaker 3: veterans labored against the elements and the wildlife, Mounting financial 25 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:25,720 Speaker 3: challenges from the Great Depression threatened to undercut all they'd 26 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:29,360 Speaker 3: been promised. The Australian government had initially pledged to pay 27 00:01:29,360 --> 00:01:32,120 Speaker 3: the veterans four shillings per bushel of wheat, but the 28 00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:34,200 Speaker 3: bill tied to that sum was killed in the Senate. 29 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:38,080 Speaker 3: Another bill proposing three shillings per bushel actually passed, but 30 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:38,959 Speaker 3: the veterans. 31 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:39,280 Speaker 1: Were never paid. 32 00:01:39,959 --> 00:01:42,920 Speaker 3: At last, in nineteen thirty one, the Wheat Bounty Act 33 00:01:42,959 --> 00:01:45,360 Speaker 3: made good on the government's promise to pay for wheat 34 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:47,760 Speaker 3: at the staggeringly low price of four and a half 35 00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:52,040 Speaker 3: pence per bushel. Let's put this in perspective. Pence is 36 00:01:52,080 --> 00:01:55,280 Speaker 3: equivalent to pennies. A shilling is twelve pence, and there 37 00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:58,400 Speaker 3: are twenty shillings in a pound in today's market, one 38 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:01,320 Speaker 3: British pound is worth about a buck fifth, So these 39 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:04,400 Speaker 3: veterans were being promised smallish sums of money to start 40 00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:07,480 Speaker 3: and delivered way less, originally promised a fifth of a 41 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:10,120 Speaker 3: pound per bushel and settling for just one twentieth of 42 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:14,280 Speaker 3: a pound per bushel, ten times less than what was promised. However, 43 00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:16,440 Speaker 3: by this point the veterans were desperate to make money 44 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:18,560 Speaker 3: off of their wheat crops, and the stage was set 45 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:22,239 Speaker 3: for a modestly fruitful harvest. No one could have anticipated 46 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:25,960 Speaker 3: what happened next. In the annals of history, there's perhaps 47 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:29,480 Speaker 3: no stranger of foe that the Australian emu, a flightless 48 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:31,480 Speaker 3: bird that can stand about six and a half feet 49 00:02:31,560 --> 00:02:33,800 Speaker 3: that's two meters tall and weigh close to one hundred 50 00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:37,480 Speaker 3: pounds that's forty five kilograms. And at an even stranger 51 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:40,880 Speaker 3: battle of man with machine gun versus giant bird, the 52 00:02:40,919 --> 00:02:44,960 Speaker 3: giant bird won. But in warfare it's essential to know 53 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:47,560 Speaker 3: the enemy. So let's pause and examine the bird that 54 00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:51,720 Speaker 3: dogged the veterans. We spoke with Eric Slovak, bird keeper 55 00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:55,760 Speaker 3: at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park. He said EMUs are 56 00:02:55,800 --> 00:02:58,240 Speaker 3: solitary for the most part. They do get together in 57 00:02:58,280 --> 00:03:01,080 Speaker 3: breeding seasons, but EMUs would prefer to be by themselves. 58 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:05,720 Speaker 3: The exception is when they're foraging. Slovak likens that behavior 59 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:08,400 Speaker 3: to humans going out solo to a fast food lunch. 60 00:03:08,639 --> 00:03:11,120 Speaker 3: He said, you're at McDonald's around lots of people, but 61 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:12,160 Speaker 3: you're not socializing. 62 00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:15,000 Speaker 1: You're just there for the food. Okay. 63 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:19,040 Speaker 3: So they're big, solitary, hungry birds. Not much of a threat. 64 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:19,320 Speaker 1: Right. 65 00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:24,400 Speaker 3: Multiply that emu you're envisioning by twenty thousand. That's how 66 00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:28,480 Speaker 3: many descended upon Western Australia in nineteen thirty two. Until 67 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:31,080 Speaker 3: a decade earlier, in nineteen twenty two, EMUs had been 68 00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:35,000 Speaker 3: a protected species. After that time, they were reclassified as vermin. 69 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:38,760 Speaker 3: Slovak explained, they'll eat anything they can get their mouths 70 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:41,760 Speaker 3: on without hunting. They're grazers. They like nuts and berries, 71 00:03:41,840 --> 00:03:46,000 Speaker 3: baby grasses, which brings us back to wheat. Yep, they'll 72 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:48,840 Speaker 3: eat that, faced with a seemingly endless buffet of it. 73 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:53,040 Speaker 3: The opportunistic birds homed in on the veterans plots beaten 74 00:03:53,080 --> 00:03:55,920 Speaker 3: down by weather at a volatile financial market. The veterans 75 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:59,200 Speaker 3: leaned hard on the government. Help us, they implored, so 76 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:03,080 Speaker 3: one made GPW. Meredith wound up leading a military offensive 77 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:05,920 Speaker 3: against the EMUs, but there were a few conditions. The 78 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:08,440 Speaker 3: veterans had to foot the bill for the ammunition. Lewis 79 00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:11,560 Speaker 3: machine guns were used in EMU combat, and the veterans 80 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:13,600 Speaker 3: had to provide food and lodging for the men assigned 81 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:17,360 Speaker 3: to this curious mission. As a side note, a cinematographer 82 00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:20,039 Speaker 3: from Fox movie Tone accompanied the military to film the 83 00:04:20,080 --> 00:04:20,800 Speaker 3: EMU effort. 84 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:22,920 Speaker 1: Historians assume the footage would have been. 85 00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:25,279 Speaker 3: Used in propaganda films to illustrate how the government was 86 00:04:25,279 --> 00:04:28,800 Speaker 3: aiding its veterans. But spoiler alert, the mission didn't go 87 00:04:28,920 --> 00:04:32,880 Speaker 3: exactly as planned. Armed with the knowledge that a slingshot 88 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:35,560 Speaker 3: can take down an ordinary bird, you might hazard a 89 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:38,000 Speaker 3: guess that a machine gun could wipe out EMUs easily, 90 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:41,799 Speaker 3: but you would be wrong. Emos are made to run, 91 00:04:42,080 --> 00:04:44,560 Speaker 3: and when shot out, they're going to panic, and they 92 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:47,920 Speaker 3: won't move in any reliable direction. And emo's legs, head, 93 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:50,680 Speaker 3: and neck move with elegant fluidity while their bodies stay 94 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:54,279 Speaker 3: parallel to the ground. Slovak explained, the body looks like 95 00:04:54,279 --> 00:04:56,480 Speaker 3: a wave. The legs good left, the head goes to 96 00:04:56,520 --> 00:04:58,880 Speaker 3: the right, and they run in all different directions like 97 00:04:59,000 --> 00:04:59,840 Speaker 3: dropped marbles. 98 00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:02,680 Speaker 1: Meredith and his men couldn't get a. 99 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:04,880 Speaker 3: Straight shot at the EMUs who stayed out of range 100 00:05:04,880 --> 00:05:07,640 Speaker 3: of the machine guns, even when enterprising veterans suggested putting 101 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:10,000 Speaker 3: them on vehicles and pursuing the birds as they ran. 102 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:14,120 Speaker 3: The military wasted a ton of ammunition. Only two hundred 103 00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:17,280 Speaker 3: birds of the twenty thousand were actually killed, and not 104 00:05:17,320 --> 00:05:19,960 Speaker 3: only did the EMUs evade the troops, they destroyed even 105 00:05:19,960 --> 00:05:22,680 Speaker 3: more farmland in the process, tearing up the ground wherever 106 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:27,039 Speaker 3: they ran. The veterans were dispirited and their land was devastated. 107 00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:29,640 Speaker 3: Meredith had a lot to answer for why had so 108 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:32,960 Speaker 3: much ammunition been wasted and was the effort even humane? 109 00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:36,279 Speaker 3: Then there was the matter of money. The veterans promised 110 00:05:36,279 --> 00:05:38,440 Speaker 3: to pay for the ammo, but the mission ultimately failed. 111 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:42,760 Speaker 3: Could the sun be forgiven? This example of ridiculous history 112 00:05:42,839 --> 00:05:45,520 Speaker 3: can't be tied up conclusively with a tidy bow, and 113 00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:48,359 Speaker 3: some details such as who was ultimately held responsible for 114 00:05:48,360 --> 00:05:51,680 Speaker 3: the cost of the ammunition, are unclear. We do know 115 00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:54,880 Speaker 3: that the veterans learned painfully from past performance that rifles, 116 00:05:55,120 --> 00:05:58,360 Speaker 3: not machine guns, were the best way to handle nuisance EMUs. 117 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:01,320 Speaker 3: They continued their war in a one to one battle 118 00:06:01,480 --> 00:06:04,440 Speaker 3: Veteran against Bird, and the Australian government later placed a 119 00:06:04,440 --> 00:06:08,039 Speaker 3: bounty on EMUs to help control the population. But finally 120 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:10,960 Speaker 3: we do suspect that the Fox cinematographer gots epic b 121 00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:20,400 Speaker 3: roll while on location. Today's episode is based on the 122 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:24,479 Speaker 3: article Ridiculous History the EMU War on HowStuffWorks dot Com, 123 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:28,000 Speaker 3: written by Candice Gibson. Brain Stuff is production of iHeartRadio 124 00:06:28,040 --> 00:06:30,600 Speaker 3: in partnership with HowStuffWorks dot Com and is produced by 125 00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:33,880 Speaker 3: Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts from my heart Radio. Visit 126 00:06:33,920 --> 00:06:36,039 Speaker 3: the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts 127 00:06:36,120 --> 00:06:38,039 Speaker 2: Or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.