The crew of Arnycain Photography & Film learned an important lesson this year during a visit to Australia's Queensland Zoo: don't leave your gear around horny emus! It took no time for this large male to, er, stake his claim to some of the team's camera bags (and, no, the bags were not waterproof). 

Despite the soiled gear, lead photographer Arnhem Peterson did the right thing by, well, letting the emu do his.

"When the emu squatted over the bag, at first I thought it was cute and maybe it thought the bag was a big egg. Then I realised it wasn't that at all. I figured I'd let it do its thing, and just wash the bag later. I still use the camera bag to this day!" he says.

Leaving the emu alone was a good call. These giant birds are capable of running up to 50 kilometres per hour (31mph) on their powerful legs, so you can imagine what being kicked by one feels like. If you require more proof, watch what happens when scientists try to milk emus for their semen.

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Top header image: Mathias Appel, Flickr