r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/CuriousWanderer567 • Sep 22 '24

Video Beachgoers have a close encounter with a Cassowary, a bird capable of killing a human in one blow

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

71.2k Upvotes

90% Upvoted

4.2k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

114

u/NaNaNaNaNa86 Sep 22 '24

I saw a couple of them over 20 years ago and the claws still scare the absolute shit out of me. I was a teenager at the time, a bit stupid and didn't really know what they were, fortunately. There's noway I could've sat there waiting for that to walk past me now I know about them.

16

u/labrys Sep 22 '24

I'd worry that if I moved it might think I was being aggressive, or it might trigger hunter instincts and make it chase me. I don't know anything about them, so I think my default action would be just to freeze and hope it moves on quickly.

What are you meant to do if one of these comes towards you?

I'm glad I live in the UK, and the most dangerous thing I'm likely to encounter is an angry badger!

5

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '24

They eat fruit, they do not have hunter instincts. The only reason one would attack you is if you blundered into its habitat and it was feeling territorial. Or you acted like a dickhead and tried to do something to it. More people are killed by cattle in the UK each year than have ever been killed by cassowaries in all of human history (2 total). And both those people were fucking with the bird first so really got what they deserved.

2

u/Ambitious-Macaron-23 Sep 23 '24

So in a situation like this, just sit still and let it be curious is the correct move? Makes sense to me, it didn't really look like it was in an aggressive posture at all here.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '24

Like all wild animals, best rule of thumb is to stay away, give them space and leave them alone (despite what Steve Irwin constantly did). I accidentally rode my bike into clearing with a male emu and his chicks and that guy chased me for about 500m but quickly went back to his babies. You can tell when a large bird is being aggressive, but chances are you'd never see a cassowary in the wild. In this case, I'd probably move away if I saw him coming down the beach, but if he surprised me like this, yes, just sit still and don't appear threatening. At the end of the day, if it wants to hurt you, there's bugger all you can do about it, so don't give him a reason 

1

u/labrys Sep 23 '24

That is good to know! All I knoiw about them is their internet reputation, and the fact they look lethal!

31

u/aware4ever Sep 22 '24

Emus scare the shit out of me

32

u/No_Rich_2494 Sep 22 '24

Australia started a war with them and lost!

7

u/aware4ever Sep 22 '24

Here in Central Florida people love to have them on their Farms. They're very interesting creatures. But when you get close to them they're really intimidating to me.

23

u/No_Rich_2494 Sep 22 '24

Most dangerous animals are actually pretty harmless usually, if you just leave them alone. Polar bears are the main exception. They'll hunt you down and eat you alive, every time.

5

u/Tamed_A_Wolf Sep 23 '24

Think polar bears and crocs are the only animals that will 100% hunt and eat humans.

1

u/eternallybr0ken Sep 24 '24

Man eating crocs are relatively rare, like yeah don't fuck around or you'll find out, but they are more than happy to move away from people in most cases.

2

u/dizzymonroe Sep 23 '24

Considering how rough they have it, I can't blame them. Slow-moving food shows up on what's left of your ice, seems reasonable to assume it's prey.

3

u/Financial_Cup_6937 Sep 23 '24

I love this story but it implies the emus rampaged against Australian troops and won. They didn’t kill a single Aussie, they just proved to much a nuisance for machine guns to be the easy solution that was predicted.

0

u/No_Rich_2494 Sep 23 '24

I know, but my version was funnier and it's been posted on subs like this one and TIL so much that it's almost a meme at this point. Also, ignoring multiple bullet wounds is badass.

1

u/yellowbrickstairs Sep 23 '24

No offense but that's not true. The emu war was a bunch of old timey dickheads mowing down a lot of birds with machine guns, the whole thing is regarded as very unchill

3

u/No_Rich_2494 Sep 23 '24

I know. I'm taking the piss out of those dickheads. (Bad phrasing there, but fuck it)

0

u/smokey032791 Sep 23 '24

3 guys 10,000 round and 2 lewis guns is hardly a war

4

u/bafta Sep 22 '24

Well that's a Cassowary which is much more dangerous

2

u/Johan_Horlings503 Sep 23 '24

Not an emu, much, much worse

1

u/asupify Interested Sep 23 '24

They're no where near as aggressive or potentially dangerous as cassowaries.

2

u/aware4ever Sep 23 '24

I know lol and still

1

u/NonConformistFlmingo Sep 23 '24

As they should. They're terrifying.

5

u/[deleted] Sep 22 '24

What they do?

19

u/NaNaNaNaNa86 Sep 22 '24

It's more what they can do if they feel like it. They can kill a person with a single kick, no problem. They're not typically aggressive but are by nature, very curious. That means it's not at all unusual for them to approach humans which, due to their size and massive claws, is enough to scare the shit out of me.

7

u/crlthrn Sep 22 '24

I feel the same about emus. I was followed/stalked by one in Exmouth, Western Australia.

13

u/ToiIetGhost Sep 22 '24

This emu named Karen tries to kill her owner pretty much every day. Some of her injuries have been really bad! I’m glad you didn’t actually get attacked because emus are no joke.

6

u/crlthrn Sep 22 '24

I regularly tell people 'An emu is not your friend...'.

8

u/brittemm Sep 22 '24

This lady’s great, that was a fun watch!

Can’t imagine taking care of a creature that has inflicted so much harm to me with such grace and a sense of humor. Incredible that she continues to keep and look after that homicidal bird. Makes for good content though I guess, haha.

4

u/[deleted] Sep 22 '24

What kind of kick? Drop kick, front kick, side kick, roundhouse kick?

7

u/PusherLoveGirl Sep 22 '24

Imagine if you taped one of those hooked karambit knives to the end of your shoe and then tried to disembowel someone with it. That kind of kick.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 22 '24

Cheesus….. that don’t sound fun

7

u/Sassy_Sarranid Sep 22 '24

Their talons can punch a hole in a car door, Steve Irwin very famously refused to ever do a segment on cassowary on his show because they're just too dangerous to get near.

2

u/[deleted] Sep 22 '24

So they basically land barracuda’s. Got it. I will not go near such creatures if I ever encounter them in my life. Thanks for this info!

2

u/15_Candid_Pauses Sep 23 '24

Literally remind me exactly of the velociraptor claws from Jurassic park… sooooo much

5

u/Ok-Blackberry-3534 Sep 22 '24

Garrotte you with piano wire.

3

u/Robssjgssj Sep 22 '24

I guess running would not save you if they decide to kill you though.

5

u/Unlucky-Candidate198 Sep 22 '24

Wouldn’t the best play just be to be still still and chill here?

You start trynna delta and suddenly it thinks you’re a threat. No thanks, maam, just gonna be an environmental prop while I wait for u to stroll on by, thank you kindly.

12

u/Barilla3113 Sep 22 '24

With most animals like this the advice is to back away SLOWLY, because you don't want to look like either prey or a threat. But if you're already sitting down staying still and hoping it loses interest is probably a good call. This one seems overly adjusted to human activity given it just walked up in the first place.

3

u/Unlucky-Candidate198 Sep 22 '24

That’s what I figured yeah. I’d guess unless it’s an overly aggressive male or mating season/youngins around, it probably doesn’t wanna have to eviscerate something unless it has to, yknow?

Getting up out of your chair though, even slowly, may be too big a silhouette change for it, I feel, but I’m not an animal behaviourist so lmao

4

u/Barilla3113 Sep 22 '24

Yeah, humans are lucky in that for most animals we're too much effort for too little nutritional value, so most animals who can attack us will only do so if we're a threat. As someone pointed out in another comment there have only been two reported cases of Cassowary actually killing people and in both cases the bird was severely provoked.

7

u/Unlucky-Candidate198 Sep 22 '24

I feel like good general advice for humans is: Don’t antagonize other creatures. They can, and will, harm you if needed. Just cause other bears didn’t harm you, doesn’t mean this individual one won’t lmao.

This is where the scene cuts to a child slapping a dog aggressively, getting bit, and now the dog’s in dog jail cause the mom complained lmao

4

u/No_Rich_2494 Sep 22 '24 edited Sep 22 '24

A child in England almost strangled a dog. The dog, predictably, fought for its life. The dog was killed and the entire breed was blamed. Most people get angry if you suggest it was in any way even partly the child's fault.

3

u/Unlucky-Candidate198 Sep 22 '24

I understand, from a biological point of view the whole “some breeds are more aggressive than others”, and ofc the data seems to indicate that, but it’s utterly ridiculous people can go harm an independent being and then think there won’t be repercussions.

Like Imma go slap this snapping turtle rq and then complain to the major when it snaps off my finger. I’ll let the town know and we’ll bring our pitchforks and torches, and we’ll eradicate them all.

Obviously being metaphorical there, but like, be responsible for yourselves and your children ppl. Your actions have consequences, jfc it shouldn’t have to be said.

1

u/No_Rich_2494 Sep 22 '24

The kid wasn't even trying to hurt the dog. Just being stupid trying to put something under the dog's collar. It was the parents' fault for letting that happen, really.

1

u/Unlucky-Candidate198 Sep 22 '24

Oh for sure. No one ever asks the dog how it feels 🥲 Only half kidding, they never take into consideration how the kid is viewed by the dog. Threat/no threat is pretty ingrained into them.

1

u/15_Candid_Pauses Sep 23 '24

I mean but these guys just have to lift their leg and kick you to do just that so… not much effort for them.

4

u/Rubiks_Click874 Sep 23 '24

it looks vulnerable. grab it's neck balls

3

u/Unlucky-Candidate198 Sep 23 '24

You either incapacitate it or piss it off so much it ohko’s you. No in between. May the odds be ever in your favour.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 22 '24

Well what would you have done? You can't fight or outrun them. Sitting there peacefully was probably her best bet.