There’s something to be said for dying while doing something you love, and that’s what happened a few weeks ago to a Florida fellow.
Marvin Hajos was a 75-year-ld Bronx native who became bird breeder.
To each his own, and bird breeding was Hajos’. Make that exotic bird breeding.Make that ratite breeding, a group that includes ems, ostriches and cassowaries.
A cassowary is a large flightless bird, a close relative of the emu – the bird currently starring in the Liberty Mutual ads – Liberty Mutual. Emu. Get it? Yes and no.
Cassowaries can’t fly, but they can run 30 mph and leap almost 7 feet into the air. And they’re big: 5 feet fall, maybe even 6 fett tall, and well over 100 pounds.
"The cassowary is rightfully considered the most dangerous bird in the world!" the [San Diego] zoo says. "Each 3-toed foot has a dagger-like claw on the inner toe that is up to 4 inches (10 centimeters) long! The cassowary can slice open any predator or potential threat with a single swift kick.” (Source: CNN)
Hajos was on the receiving end of a swift cassowary kick when he fell and one of hisbirds attacked him.
Cassowaries aren’t for the faint of heart pet owner.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission considers cassowaries Class II wildlife, meaning they pose a danger to humans and are subject to specific cage requirements. Owners must also have “substantial experience with the animals, the commission says.
Class II is the same category as alligators, honey badgers and clouded leopards, while Class I includes more traditional predators such as a lions, tigers and bears.
Lions and tigers and bears. Oh my. (Honey badger don’t care.)
Well, with Mr. Hajos no longer on the scene, his survivors needed to see to what would become of his “animal estate,” and estate that includes macaws and kookaburras. And a few cassowaries. Including his killer.
The auction was held last weekend, but as of this writing, I’m not sure what became of the cassowary with blood on its claw.
Bill Grotjahn, who investigated the death for the Medical Examiner’s Office, said Mr. Hajos had died from trauma inflicted by the bird. He called it “such an unusual situation.”
“I’ve been doing this for 18 years and I’ve never had a thing like this,” [Bill Grotjahn, an investigator with the Florida Medical Examiner’s Office] said. “I’ve had them killed by alligators and snakes but never by a bird like that. I know ostriches and emus have their moments, but cassowaries are an extremely, extremely dangerous bird. You don’t want to fool around with them. They have no sense of humor.” (Source: NY Times)
Personally, while I’d prefer to have a pet with a sense of humor, but it wouldn’t be a deal breaker for me. But that “extremely, extremely dangerous” would give me pause. Especially a known killer.
Not that murder-by-cassowary is all that common. The last known killing was nearly 100 years ago in Australia (their native turf).
It was not clear why the bird that killed Mr. Hajos was not put down after the attack.
Certainly the question that inquiring minds are asking themselves.
Mr. Hajos, by the way:
…did not need a permit for his cassowaries because he “employed an agricultural exemption for his possession of cassowaries for agricultural use.”
That would be “meat, eggs and live animal sales.”
Inquiring minds might be asking a few more questions. Like who eats cassowary meat? Does it taste like chicken? And who eats cassowary eggs? What size omelet do they make?
I did find someone out there in Internet world who does raise cassowary because the chicks are, ahem, “adorable.”
“Adorable”?
Maybe as a chick. But once it grows into a six-footer with a dagger claw and no sense of humor. Plus a nasty disposition to boot.
I think I’d be a bit wary of a cassowary.
Not to mention that the cost could be as high as $10K.
As for Mr. Hajos, may he rest in peace.
Imaging surviving a Bronx childhood to get ripped apart by a cassowary.
I know he wasn’t singing about cassowaries, but John Prine was sure onto something when he wrote “It’s a big old goofy world.”
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