i have to forward this to my sil, who bought my old elma lake place
(vacation home), just across from the 9-hole chip and putt course.  too
funny!  thanks, chief.

That's Not a Birdie, That's an Emu: Big Bird Follows Pair Around Washington
Golf Course
Tuesday, September 4, 2007    18:42 PDT

ELMA, Wash. --  Every golfer likes a birdie, even more so an eagle. But an
emu? The big bird that showed up Tuesday at Oaksridge Golf Course was
another matter, at least for Sue McMeekin of Satsop and Les Bell of
Montesano.

The flightless bird, second in size among avians to the ostrich, followed
the pair for seven of their nine holes, watching each swing and sometimes
walking between them or standing directly in front of them. The emu seemed
to take special interest in McMeekin's red fleece jacket.

"It was strange," McMeekin said. "She's awful big and she made me nervous."

Emus, natives of Australia, can grow to more than 5 feet and 100 pounds and
are capable of running as fast as 30 mph.

Jeremy Behm, a golf course employee in this town between Olympia and
Aberdeen, said he heard a strange sound as he was working in the pro shop
around 6:30 a.m.

"I heard a noise and this crazy bird was standing right there," Behm said.

After hanging around the pro shop for a time, the emu began following
McMeekin and Bell while Behm called the Grays Harbor County sheriff's
office.

A deputy was dispatched but could not immediately determine where the emu
belonged, but soon afterward the owner came from his home from across the
street and rounded up the bird at about 10:30 a.m., Behm said.

___

Information from: The Daily World, http://www.thedailyworld.com

... Epitaph:   GRETA GARBO -- Alone At Last