A Mystery or an Emu-Dunnit?

Biologist Jeff Johnson at first dismissed the rumors swirling among the personnel at the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station. But the reports kept coming in: a clutch of humongous eggs, resting on a grassy berm on the south side of the base.

When he decided to go out and investigate, Johnson found himself staring at seven dark green eggs, each about 6 inches long--larger than any egg he had ever seen--baking in the sun. He hurried back to his office and placed a call to a bird expert. The verdict? Emu eggs. As in those 6-foot flightless wonders, resembling ostriches, that run wild in Australia.

Without a male emu to sit and incubate them, the eggs were no longer viable, and were recently donated to Cal State Long Beach, where they will be used in classrooms.

But a bigger mystery remains, and might never be solved. How did they get there?

The ornithologist who advised Johnson suggested that a prankster might have placed the eggs on the base to confound the biologist. But there was also evidence they were laid by an emu.

Some of the eggs were consistent with a female’s egg-laying pattern, Johnson said.

Johnson also said Friday he wondered if it was possible that “maybe somebody had an emu out here and let it go and it was just running around.”

There are some 200 emu ranches in Southern California, according to the state’s Emu Assn., a result of the craze that briefly took hold in the United States in the early 1990s.

The industry went bust a few years later, with many ranchers going bankrupt. As a result, thousands of emus were left to roam the Texas countryside, set loose by ranchers unwilling to spend another dime on feed.

Upon further reflection, Johnson dismissed the notion of someone smuggling a ratite--another name for flightless birds like emus and ostriches--onto the base.

“There’s no way you could get by security with a 6-foot bird,” he said.

Maybe not. But those familiar with the bird said it was entirely possible for an escaped emu to jump a fence and enter the weapons station on its own.

“If they were trying to get some place where there was food or water, it’s possible that they could climb over a fence,” said Sharon Felts, secretary for the California Emu Assn., who also has some 400 birds on her ranch in Northern California. “They do jump pretty high.”

Donna Allsop, an emu rancher who maintains about 40 birds in San Diego County, agreed.

“We have a fence that’s 6 feet tall,” she said. “We keep having to go on the other side to fetch one that jumps over.”

Emu ranchers market emu meat, which boasts the health benefits of poultry and, according to aficionados, tastes like red meat. Emu oil has also been touted for its healing properties.

In the week since the discovery of the eggs, there has been no sign of a mother--or a father.

Johnson’s now positive that he’s been had by someone, since there is no bizarre-looking addition to the base’s population.

“There’s no way we’re going to miss a 6-foot-tall bird running around,” he said.