Man on riding lawnmower uses pool noodle to fight off emus, TikTok shows
A man driving erratically while pursued by giant two-legged creatures with gnashing beaks may sound like a scene out of the latest “Jurassic Park” movie, but it’s real and actually happening in someone’s backyard.
This time, the creatures aren’t dinosaurs — they’re emus. And the vehicle isn’t a jeep in the jungle of a reptile-ridden island — it’s a mower on a half-trimmed lawn in Texas.
A TikTok video of a man armed with a pool noodle and swatting emus while on a riding lawnmower has gone viral, but it wasn’t a one-time occurrence for the Wilson’s.
Michelle Wilson posts series of videos documenting her husband’s trials to mow the lawn, often impeded by their pet emus.
One emu in particular, Wilson said on TikTok, has a distaste for the lawnmower.
“His name is Cosmo, he doesn’t like men or the mower,” she joked. “The momma and baby could care less.”
Over time, Wilson’s husband experimented with different ways to keep the birds at bay — and found that a simple pool noodle was at least somewhat effective.
He even tried crafting a hat with a pool noodle on top to ward off Cosmo, which Wilson said annoyed the emu even more.
Toby Wilson told CNN that once Cosmo became a father, he got more protective, which spurred the random attacks, especially when he is riding the lawn mower.
“I turn my back, and wham, he bites me right on top of the head. And it hurts pretty good,” Toby Wilson told CNN. “I tell him, I say, ‘Look, bird, you better get away. Don’t do it. Don’t do it. I’m going to give you the noodle.’”
The videos have garnered over 1.5 million views on TikTok. Some commenters tagged another emu-owner on the app @useless_farm, who posts regular photos of her snippy emu Karen sneaking up behind her for an attack.
Even though mowing the lawn may be a tedious chore the emus don’t like, Michelle Wilson said they love caring for them and raised the two parents in the house.
“Our neighbors probably think we’ve lost our minds over here since Cosmo has gotten so protective,” Michelle Wilson said on TikTok. “We had a pool boy once that asked me if they were dinosaurs! Bless his heart. They are nice to me, but not my hubby.”
This story was originally published June 15, 2022 at 3:47 PM with the headline "Man on riding lawnmower uses pool noodle to fight off emus, TikTok shows."
