With Mother’s Day just around the corner, it is time to be thinking about what you will be giving your Mom.
Nita Anderson’s Son, Steve, came up with a novel gift 14 years ago, a baby Emu chick. Not all Moms would appreciate such a unique gift but Anderson’s great sense of humor made a good laugh out of it. She created a mini farm with various animals in her yard.
With Mother’s Day just around the corner, it is time to be thinking about what you will be giving your Mom.
Nita Anderson’s Son, Steve, came up with a novel gift 14 years ago, a baby Emu chick. Not all Moms would appreciate such a unique gift but Anderson’s great sense of humor made a good laugh out of it. She created a mini farm with various animals in her yard.
Anderson named her new pet Ima the Emu, and kept her in a box in the house for a few months. Later when Ima grew too large for indoor confinement and the weather got warmer, she graduated to a large pen in the yard near Lakeview Road. Children walking to Lakeview School enjoyed seeing this unusual sight and Ima enjoyed seeing them.
Ima grew up to be a big bird over 5 ft tall, an estimated 100 pounds, although no one has been able to get her to stand on the scales. She lays 15 to 20 eggs during the fall and one egg is equivalent to a dozen chicken eggs.
Life got a bit harder for Ima last December when two dogs got into her pen. They attacked her and left her bloody with feathers and flesh missing and strewn about the pen. Children ran to knock on Anderson’s door to report the tragedy. Anderson was heartbroken and did not know what to do so she called Frank Hilliker, owner of Hilliker’s Ranch Fresh Eggs. He has an Emu and 30,000 chickens also, so he knew a thing or two about birds. In fact, some call him the Bird Man of Lakeside.
Frank rushed over to see for himself the damage and started calling every Veterinarian he could think of, then started Googling to find someone who knew what to do. Finally, a Veterinarian in Modesto, Ca. told him to take photos of Ima and send them to her so she could see the injury. After viewing the damage a quick trip to Walmart to buy the necessary medications which turned out to be pretty basic. Iodine to swab and kill the germs, and to everyone’s surprise, Pine Tar Tree Heal, one of those old fashion remedies that farmers and gardeners used back in the old days. The Tree Heal closed the rip without using stitches.
Frank said that, “Everyone knows that chicken skin is thin and can’t be stitched.”
It took Ima two weeks before she gradually recovered and struggled to her feet. She limped around and still does not have her voice back, she now makes sort of a bong sound. Meanwhile the two dogs came back for another visit and were captured by the Anderson family and turned over to the animal control.
Anderson’s neighbor, Jeannine Miskiman, loves Ima and keeps an eye on her from her home across the street. Ima loves Jeannine too and comes rushing over to the fence to see what treats she has in store for her.
So with Mother’s Day a few days away, just be thinking, “I wonder what the kids will give me this year” … like Anderson worries.
And by the way, the veterinarian from Modesto is planning a trip down to Lakeside to visit her patient.
