A Moment Of Silence For The Emu

When I went to Australia in 2006, I was startled by just how easy it was to slaughter wildlife wandering aimlessly in the road (or, in the case of kangaroos, bounding aimlessly). I thought it supposed to be an empty desert, and all, but the roadsides were littered with corpses.

I guess the reason we never see any emus here is that we just keep shooting them all:

The California Highway Patrol was forced to shoot an kill an emu is Sacramento yesterday. The CHP first tried to shoot the animal with a taser gun but eventually shot the animal as a safety measure.

The California Highway Patrol said at about 1 p.m., an officer was called on a report of a loose emu near Interstate 5 and Power Line Road. The bird was later seen walking in the eastbound lane of Bayou Road toward Airport Boulevard. CHP spokeswoman Lizz Dutton said the officer tried several times to corral the bird with his patrol vehicle, but the bird kept going westbound on Bayou Road.

Sacramento County Animal Control was called as well as several CHP units assisted, but the bird could not be captured. When the officers say the bird was going to head onto a freeway onramp they tazed the bird. It had no affect so they shot the bird.