Forget having a country, let's go bigger!

[EricD]

Hey Bird, did you look up the Terror Bird yet?

 

[Bird]

No need for me to look up the terror bird, but isn't it gorgeous!?! Moas are incredible, and Elephant birds, and all of those large, flightless prehistoric birds.

 

[EricD]

The Terror Bird is the one bird that SCARES me!! Elephant birds and moas, dodos, cool. Terror Bird, RUN!!!!!

 

[Bird]

Terror birds- cry with joy at the beauty of it, and stand by reposing in its majesty.

 

[EricD]

Cry in fear & run like hell! They could kill a horse easily. If I raised one from a chick and bonded with it as a baby, maybe. Wild, HELL NO!

 

[Bird]

Yeah, but they don't (didn't) usually kill horse sized things. Their diet mainly consisted of smaller animals and carrion.

 

[EricD]

So if you're taking your terror bird for a walk around the golf course & we meet and talk, he won't eat me?

 

[EricD]

I'd be worried about your Argentavis too, swooping down and snatching up mid-swing!

 

[Bird]

Well... It depends. See, if he's super attached to me, he might get protective (I have a goose that is imprinted on me, and he is about 20 times smaller than a terror bird, and still manages to get some good chunks out of people who come to close.) But he would probably leave you alone if you just saw him wandering along, and you stayed out of his territory and gave him space. And that's assuming he is well fed and not starving. But you'd probably be just fine!

 

[Bird]

And most birds, actually all animals, give people their distance. Even the aggressive, top of the food chain ones. Unless provoked or starving animals tend to leave people alone.

 

[EricD]

That's just it, I've seen geese as big as Labrador Retrievers! I'd hate to see a Terror Bird!

 

[EricD]

An Argie might be worse, you won't see him coming!

 

[Bird]

I love geese.

And you don't have to worry about the extinct terror birds- you should be fretting about cassowaries....

 

[Bird]

Although, the last time a cassowary killed someone was in 1927, I believe.

They usually just maim them. With their specialized, sharp dagger claws.

 

[Bird]

Five to six feet tall. Fast. Sharp talons. Dinosaurian helmets. Now these are incredible birds. And not extinct.

 

[EricD]

Yeah, cassowaries are nasty devils. I've heard about them. On Aspergia, anything goes! We're creating a whole new world here, so your Terror Bird is welcome, too! Also that's a cool goose, tell him hi for me!

 

[Bird]

Yay! And my geese will honk back at you in reply. Very loudly.

 

[EricD]

Don't tell me you have a CASSOWARY in that aviary of yours!

 

[EricD]

Haven't they been called the Devil Bird because they can be aggressive?

 

[Bird]

I wish we had a cassowary... I keep asking our lead keeper to acquire one. But they're classified as dangerous animals, and facilities with dangerous animals are required to have a gun team, which we don't. Our biggest bird is Sydney the Emu, followed by Andy, the Andean Condor. And our most dangerous birds are probably the King Vultures or the hornbills. If the eagles or Andy were at all aggressive then they might be dangerous, too. This beautiful girl is at the San Francisco Zoo, I got the picture of her over the summer.