WAR!

I talk about war quite often.  Here is one I've neglected.

In 1932, after World War I and before World War II, there was a huge struggle in Australia.  It is known as the Great Emu War.  Adult Emus stand five to six feet in height.  They usually weigh about 80 lbs but some get up to 130.  Luckily, they don't fly  -  but can run about 30 miles per hour.  The emu, a strange-looking bird that resembles an ostrich, was driving farmers batty - eating their crops.  

So, things got so bad the government declared war on them.  Soldiers were brought in, artillery was employed, the cavalry was called.  Machine gun units were deployed but the crafty enemy scattered and eluded the military.  It took the army most of the year before they got a good handle on how to defeat the sneaky emu.  

Even when they thought they had the enemy under control, the farmers had to call on the military again in 1934, 1943, and 1948.   It wasn't until the second half of the twentieth century that, realizing the emu couldn't fly, they decided to build walls and fences to keep them away from their crops.  

The Great Emu War was over.  Now they are a protected species.  The last one I've seen was making a stupid commercial for American television.