Emu War
After losing the Battle of the Dam, Meredith moved further south, because he heard the birds were "fairly tame". But, again he had only limited success even though he and his men tried very hard to kill more emus. By the fourth day of the campaign, army observers reported that birds looked well organised. "Each pack seems to have its own leader now – a big black-plumed bird which stands fully six feet high and keeps watch while his mates carry out their work of destruction and warns them of our approach". Meredith was desperate. He even tried to put one of the guns on a truck. This failed because the truck was slower than the emus. The ride was so rough that the gunner could not fire any shots. By 8 November, six days after the first fighting, the soldiers had fired 2,500 bullets. Nobody knows how many birds were killed. One estimate was 50 birds. Others said from 200 to 500 birds. Settlers gave the large estimate. Meredith's official report said that none of his men were injured.