you can own that giant bird that killed its owner, he/she is up for sale
That bird — a hulking, flightless cassowary with a daggerlike claw on each foot — will go up for auction Saturday alongside about 100 other exotic animals that Hajos, 75, kept on his property near Gainesville, Florida. (Several other cassowaries are also slated to go on the auction block.)
Hajos fell between two cassowary pens on April 12 and was attacked through the fence by at least one of the birds, said Jeff Taylor, the deputy chief of Alachua County Fire Rescue. When rescue workers arrived they found him grievously injured on the ground between the two pens. An angry bird stood in one of the pens.
“A couple of people from our crew had to dodge the bird themselves,” Taylor said. “The bird was obviously agitated and was trying to come at them through the fence, but they were quick enough to get themselves out of the way of the bird.”
Cassowaries are emu-like birds that can stand up to 6 1/2 feet tall. They have an almost prehistoric appearance. Their bright blue faces are topped with a hornlike ridge and their bodies, which can weigh up to 130 pounds, are covered with dark feathers. Their two muscular legs each sport one dangerous claw up to 5 inches long.
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Grotjahn said he heard that Hajos might have gone to the cassowary pens on the day he died to check on their eggs.
“The female cassowary, which is the larger of the two birds, saw he was messing with the eggs and you know how that goes,” he said. “It is like a bear protecting their young.”
It was not clear why the bird that killed Hajos was not put down after the attack.
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https://visalakshiramani.wordpress.com/articles/rare-birds/5-cassowary/
An adult cassowary stands 150 to 180 c.m tall! Females are larger in size and more brightly colored. A female cassowary may grow to height of 2 meters and weigh 58.5 kilograms. The bird has small wings and three toes in each leg. It has sharp claws. The second toe has a dagger like claw 5 inches long. This becomes a mighty weapon when the bird kicks and attacks with it legs.
The bird can jump a height of 5 feet and run at a speed of 50 km/hour through dense forests. It can swim in rivers as well as in the sea. It has a horn-like soft, spongy crest, 18 c.m tall, on its head. This protects the bird’s head from collisions. It is probably used as a weapon to settle the dominance disputes also. It is useful while foraging for food, and acts as an amplifier for the low frequency sounds, the bird produces.
The average life span on this bird is 40 to 50 years. Usually very shy,the birds keep away from human interference. Their main food are plant shoots, grass seeds, fungi, invertebrates and small vertebrates.
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/A-Giant-Bird-Killed-Its-Owner-Now-It-Could-Be-13791678.php?ipid=dontmisssfghp
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