Weird Wildlife Relationships: An Emu and a Feral Cat?

Emu, Emu Ridge Eucalyptus oil Kangaroo Island

Ever wondered what you could learn from an emu and a feral cat?

Generally we don’t tolerate feral cats, they are a pest to our land spreading disease and they destroy the native wildlife. However…. SOMETIMES creatures can surprise you – and in this case, both our emu and resident feral cat have surprised us indeed.

Below is a wonderful blog by Bev’s daughters friend,  Anne.

“Ever wondered what you could learn from an emu and a feral cat?

I received this picture from a friend whose parents own Emu Ridge Eucalyptus Distillery on Kangaroo Island, where they have kept emus for years. Feral cats are a big problem on KI, with farmers and nature-lovers alike generally opting to destroy them at the first chance… but this one was different. In the most unlikely of friendships, this random feral cat voluntarily took up residence with the only remaining captive emu, and they have been best buddies ever since. Emus can be rather aggressive creatures, so the feeling must certainly be mutual between these two (note the cat can walk in and out of this enclosure at its own will).

Perhaps there are some things we can learn from this dynamic duo:

  • You never know the power of a union until you give it a shot – even if the synergies seem unlikely
  • Sometimes you need to challenge the status quo – in this instance the initial reaction to destroy the cat was not the best outcome for the farmer or the emu
  • Strange can be wonderful – embrace the individuality of those around you as they may offer something you didn’t know existed

Maybe your union is not a cat and an emu, perhaps it’s two service offerings that we’ve never thought to offer as a package to our clients. Or maybe your initial reaction to a situation in business or life in general should be given further consideration? Maybe teaming with someone who has different talents to offer can really boost your combined output – if something seems strange to you maybe it’s just the opportunity to learn a new way to do things. Think outside the square!

Thanks to “Psycho” the emu and “Ridgie” the cat for the inspiration – hopefully they at least made you smile!

– Anne van der Giessen –

Thank you Anne for your thoughts on our unique couple and latest tourist attraction. You have certainly made us think more about what we can learn from their friendship!

Here is a video of Ridgie’s first amazing encounter of a human touch  with Bev quite amazing, he did enjoy it …

Feral Cats first human touch at Emu Ridge

While the black cat in this video has found a soft spot in our hearts at Emu Ridge, feral cats still are an enormous issue on Kangaroo Island and many other places in Australia. The Kangaroo Island Natural Resources Management (NRM) Board is proposing to eradicate feral cats on the island by 2030 – click here for the article.

Here is an interesting video from Channel 7 of the impact that feral cats have on native wildlife – click here for the video.

This is certainly a very controversial issue all over Australia, but it’s sometimes interesting to see these issues in another light.
Thank you for reading!