@Ugwump Yeah. But since the Australian government limited the amount of ammo available quite heavily, the Finnish solution could have also worked: Actually hitting the targets.
@zxczxczbfg I'm pretty sure they tried the Finnish solution described as well, I recall reading a summary that described birds who were just running around with holes in them like it was nothing.
@Schattensturm It was like 3 guys against a few thousand emus and they didn't get anywhere close to enough ammo. It wasn't really a "loss" in the way you lose other wars, they just sort of gave up because they ran out of ammo.
I somehow see the "innocent" faces of the UK and the US in the background, accompanied by a pig. And Mexico and France, with a croissant in between them.
(for those curious: the Pig War and the Pastry War, as equally ridiculous reasons for humans to go to war).
@ImportViking Eeeeh, I don't know anything about the Pastry War, but I can say the "Pig war" wasn't exactly the same as the Emu war. The Pig war was some "middle management" people on the US and UK deciding that a tiny island was super important to them and using the shooting of a pig as an excuse to try and start a war, but the "lower management", and higher ups of the two countries knew it was outright stupid and stopped it before the war actually happened.
The Emu war was basically Australia trying to slaughter a bunch of emus, and failing because the birds are too stupid to die after being riddled with bullets.
@Lichruler I think I clearly say: ridiculous reasons to go to war. Or should I write it a bit slower next time?
Any war is stupid, but some wars are even more ridiculous than others. So whether it involves a pic, a croissant or a non-flying bird, it's just the stuff of facepalms.
@nolastname You got that right. My friend Greg lives in Gympie, and by his own admission his flying double scissors-kick can take the cap off a bottle of VB at nearly a meter. Terrifying indeed.
If I remember right, the "Great Emu War" was something akin to three guys in a jeep who rapidly found out that an Emu is a surprisingly robust bird that is too stupid to die when shot. It definitely wasn't some Grand Undertaking that the word War makes it out to be.
my australian friends love to joke about the emus war! not even they know how the australian military lost? i have so many questions that are unanswered