San Ramon Express : Strange birds are the best pets

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Some families own dogs, others have cats, and every once in a while you may come across a ferret in an otherwise innocuous living room. But when man's best friend isn't enough, families such as the Ongs turn to more unusual creatures.

The Alamo family owns four emus -- the world's second-largest bird, which looks similar to an ostrich and are similarly flightless -- which act as the protectors of the Ong's land. Father Chester, mother Ume and their offspring Hailey and George are fun, easy animals, said Denise Ong.

"They are very easy to take care of because they require very little housing or anything. We have a lean-to house for them and they don't even want to be in a barn because they get scared," she said. "We think of them as big parakeets, they think a lot like parakeets."

Denise and her son, Andrew, feed their emus banana and apple peels, strawberries, carrots and lettuce. Omnivorous animals, the emus eat grass, bugs, small rodents and caterpillars in the wild. The Ongs give Chester, Ume, Hailey and George chicken pellets with cracked corn as treats.

Emus can grow up to 6 feet 6 inches and run at approximately 40 miles per hour. They need ample room to graze, which makes the Ong's 60-tree orchard off I-680 the perfect place for the soft-feathered animal. Like parakeets, emus love shiny objects and are prone to eating earrings and necklaces.

"It's really an interesting bird. They definitely know us and are glad to see us and like to be rubbed and petted," Denise added.

There are three or four families in the area that have emus, most of which came from a Tassajara 4-H poultry project, Denise noted. The Ongs have had their emus for about six years now, and are hoping to get a few more baby females to supply friends with the birds.

In addition to being interesting and unusual pets, emus are good protectors. The Ongs have three goats and 12 chickens but have not lost a single chicken to predators since the emus arrived.

"We like having them as pets because they are protectors of our goats, dogs, sheep and chickens. They protect them by kicking forward, jumping 4-6 feet high in the air, and stomping on them and making weird noises," Andrew said. "They make drumming noises and males make groaning hissing soundsthat get rid of coyotes, raccoons and wild dogs and skunks."

When they're not warding off predators, emus are playful, affectionate and enjoy being squirted with water when it's hot. Much like penguins, the bird can lay five to 50 eggs, which are taken care of by the male for eight weeks.

Although they may run fast, the emu is no fly-by-night pet -- most live to be 30 years old.

"It's a smooth, fun processes to keep emus at your house," Andrew said. "My friends enjoy looking at them."

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