Danger warning as albino ostrich escapes in Russia

An albino ostrich was on the run in Russia's far east on Monday after escaping from a circus, as residents were warned not to approach the "very aggressive" bird.

An ostrich opens its mouth in an attempt to nip at a camera.

Two ostriches escaped from the Anastasia travelling circus in the port city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky when a worker left their cage open, but one was recaptured Monday morning.

"We have still not manged to find the second ostrich, a very rare albino," circus manager Vasily Kolos told the Interfax news agency.

The circus contacted local media asking residents to report the whereabouts of the bird, which can run at a speed of up to 70 kilometres (43 miles) per hour, Kolos said.

But the circus manager warned residents not to approach the bird to try to catch it. "The ostrich is a very stupid and aggressive bird, it can seriously injure a person."

http://news.yahoo.com/danger-warning-albino-ostrich-escapes-russia-175629605.html

In a flap: Rescue team called in to catch ostrich running loose through streets of Dover

21/07/11When this ostrich decided to make a bid for freedom, little did it realise the trouble it would cause. The 6ft albino bird was spotted roaming through a Dover street early in the morning by a startled scaffolder who was driving to work.

It was only eventually captured thanks to the efforts of six police officers and a team from the RSPCA. Wayne McLester, speaking to the Daily Mirror, said he "got the fright of his life" when the bird sprinted past him while he was driving to work at 6.30am.

The 21-year-old said: 'It just stopped in front of my van and stared at me.

'I was about to try to catch it when I remembered a wildlife show which said ostriches could kill a lion with a kick, so I stayed in my van.'

Before calling the emergency services the scaffolder used his van to herd the bird into a car park. He then took these pictures and watched six police officers nervously surround it.

'They waited a good hour trying to contain the ostrich before the RSPCA arrived and took it away,' said Mr McLester.

It is not known where the ostrich escaped from.

But as there are breeders in the area supplying ostrich meat to a growing market, it seems it made a sensible decision in making a bid for freedom.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2015423/In-flap-Rescue-team-called-catch-ostrich-running-loose-streets-Dover.html#ixzz1ST5eYFHI

Ostrich's motorway bid for freedom

23 August 2010, 11:01
Ostrich chase /Quirky China News

Motorists were startled in China when a pet ostrich made a break for freedom - by running along a motorway.

Liu, of Meishan, in southwest China's Sichuan province, said his ostrich ran away when he was feeding him.

"I was just leaving his pen after giving him his feed when he suddenly ran out and dashed into the street," he said.

The giant bird kept on running, galloping onto a nearby highway, as Liu gave chase on his motorbike, reports Sichuan News Online.

Eventually passing drivers helped him herd the ostrich into a petrol filling station where workers used ropes to trip and catch the bird.

"I've learnt my lesson," said Liu. "The first thing I'm going to do is build a big fence around the ostrich pen."

http://web.orange.co.uk/article/quirkies/Ostrichs_motorway_bid_for_freedom

Giant egg mystery turns out to be joke

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CLENDENIN, W.Va. (AP) — A West Virginia mystery egg has turned out to be nothing more than a practical yolk.

Days after Sherman Farley found a giant egg while hunting in central West Virginia near Clendenin, another man has admitted planting it in the woods as a joke.

Herbert Herold says he got the ostrich egg from Benedict Haid Farm, about three miles from where Farley found it. Herold left it in the woods, hoping his brother Bill, who was hunting nearby, would find it.

But Farley found it first, and the 4.5-pound egg with a diameter of 18 inches had wildlife experts puzzled.

Farley’s wife, Rosie, has emptied and bleached the egg, which now sits on her kitchen counter.

———

Information from: Charleston Daily Mail, http://www.dailymail.com

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2009/12/02/12009201-ap.html

See original story here.

Giant egg mystery turns out to be joke

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CLENDENIN, W.Va. (AP) — A West Virginia mystery egg has turned out to be nothing more than a practical yolk.

Days after Sherman Farley found a giant egg while hunting in central West Virginia near Clendenin, another man has admitted planting it in the woods as a joke.

Herbert Herold says he got the ostrich egg from Benedict Haid Farm, about three miles from where Farley found it. Herold left it in the woods, hoping his brother Bill, who was hunting nearby, would find it.

But Farley found it first, and the 4.5-pound egg with a diameter of 18 inches had wildlife experts puzzled.

Farley’s wife, Rosie, has emptied and bleached the egg, which now sits on her kitchen counter.

———

Information from: Charleston Daily Mail, http://www.dailymail.com

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2009/12/02/12009201-ap.html

See original story here.

Couple tries to crack case of mystery egg

Thursday November 26, 2009

Ostrich farm located 3 miles from where discovery made

by Elaine McMillion
Daily Mail staff

CLENDENIN, W.Va.--Something bigger than a Thanksgiving turkey laid the egg that Sherman Farley stumbled upon while deer hunting Tuesday.

Bill Pepper, owner of Benedict Haid Farm, three miles from where the egg was found, suspects it is an ostrich egg.

But it still remains a mystery as to how the 4.5-pound egg that measures 18 inches in diameter longways wound up in the woods near Dutch Ridge Road in Clendenin.

Farley, 49, discovered it while hunting about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.

After examining the beige-colored egg, he decided to leave it there overnight. He returned home later that evening and told his wife about his find.

"He was afraid to get it," Rosie Farley said with a laugh. "He thought it might blow up."

So on Wednesday morning Rosie went with her husband to the spot where it lay.

Rosie, 60, has been a hunter herself for nearly 30 years, but she was baffled by the enormous egg.

"I've never seen anything like this in the woods," she said.

"It looks like it has been with another egg in the nest," she said as she pointed to a dried, yellow, yolk-like substance on the shell.

The egg measures 16 1/4 inches in diameter at its center and has a porcelain-like shell.

Rosie says it can't be a turkey egg because those are not much larger than chicken eggs. She also said she has never seen peacocks in the area. Emu eggs are much darker in color, normally blue or green.

"I'm sure there's nothing native to West Virginia that would lay an egg that size," said Jim Phillips, a state naturalist based at Pipestem State Park.

Rosie said she has recently heard stories of ostriches running loose near Falling Rock, which is fairly close by and between Blue Creek and Clendenin.

Pepper said about a month ago someone called him to report the appearance of an emu running through the woods just miles from his farm on Dutch Ridge Road.

"I told them I only have one emu and it was still there," said Pepper, who is also a Charleston lawyer. "But that might have been an ostrich that someone confused for an emu."

Benedict Haid Farm, which is about three miles from where the egg was found and about a half hour's drive from downtown Charleston, has one emu and seven ostriches.

Pepper said the shell of an ostrich egg is dimpled like a golf ball and thicker than that of a chicken egg - about an eighth of an inch thick.

Pepper's description matches the characteristics of the Farley's find, but now the question is not "what," but "how?"

"How would an egg get three miles from the farm?" Rosie wondered.

Pepper said ostriches lay eggs only in warm weather. He has not seen one of his large birds lay an egg in three to four weeks.

Phillips, the naturalist, also said that wild birds are not laying eggs this time of the year.

"I wonder if the West Virginia Mothman found a girlfriend," Phillips joked.

Pepper does not believe one of his ostriches has escaped.

"I don't keep an accurate count so maybe one of mine got loose, but I really don't think so," Pepper said. "Someone on the farm would have told me."

"Besides they make no attempt to get loose. They got it made and they don't jump the fence," he said.

Phillips suspects other wildlife is to blame.

"If he's not missing any ostriches, probably what has happened is a coyote, raccoon or bear has rolled it that far," Phillips said. "It wouldn't be impossible for a dog to move something like that, too."

However, Phillips said he doesn't understand why a bear or raccoon couldn't have figured out how to crack open the egg.

Pepper said it is hard to believe an animal could get a four-pound egg three miles to the place where Farley found it.

"I don't see how an animal could have done that," Pepper said.

Pepper and Phillips suspect a prank.

"The only other thing I can think of is one of the neighbors did it as a joke to see if a hunter would find it," the naturalist said.

However the egg ended up in the woods, Pepper said the Farleys have a new but foul-smelling treasure in their possession.

"There is nothing in there but a bunch of slime and goo," Pepper said. "Chances are it will be the most horrific smell they have ever smelled."

Pepper recommends the couple drill a hole in the bottom with a quarter-inch drill bit and blow out the contents with a tire pump. Then he says they should soak it in bleach.

An ostrich egg is valued at $10 to $15, he said.

"People carve them and paint them," Pepper said. "They are very pretty. You can a buy a stand for them."

That's exactly what the Dutch Ridge residents plan to do.

"I'd like to find out what it is, drill it and keep it as a souvenir," Rosie said.

Although the chances of a baby ostrich surviving are extremely slim, Rosie can still dream.

"If it hatched, I'd probably pen it up and take care of it," Rosie said. "And if it was big enough, I'd probably saddle it up."

http://www.dailymail.com/News/Kanawha/200911250737?page=2&build=cache

(Submitted by Chad Arment)

Couple tries to crack case of mystery egg

Thursday November 26, 2009

Ostrich farm located 3 miles from where discovery made

by Elaine McMillion
Daily Mail staff

CLENDENIN, W.Va.--Something bigger than a Thanksgiving turkey laid the egg that Sherman Farley stumbled upon while deer hunting Tuesday.

Bill Pepper, owner of Benedict Haid Farm, three miles from where the egg was found, suspects it is an ostrich egg.

But it still remains a mystery as to how the 4.5-pound egg that measures 18 inches in diameter longways wound up in the woods near Dutch Ridge Road in Clendenin.

Farley, 49, discovered it while hunting about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.

After examining the beige-colored egg, he decided to leave it there overnight. He returned home later that evening and told his wife about his find.

"He was afraid to get it," Rosie Farley said with a laugh. "He thought it might blow up."

So on Wednesday morning Rosie went with her husband to the spot where it lay.

Rosie, 60, has been a hunter herself for nearly 30 years, but she was baffled by the enormous egg.

"I've never seen anything like this in the woods," she said.

"It looks like it has been with another egg in the nest," she said as she pointed to a dried, yellow, yolk-like substance on the shell.

The egg measures 16 1/4 inches in diameter at its center and has a porcelain-like shell.

Rosie says it can't be a turkey egg because those are not much larger than chicken eggs. She also said she has never seen peacocks in the area. Emu eggs are much darker in color, normally blue or green.

"I'm sure there's nothing native to West Virginia that would lay an egg that size," said Jim Phillips, a state naturalist based at Pipestem State Park.

Rosie said she has recently heard stories of ostriches running loose near Falling Rock, which is fairly close by and between Blue Creek and Clendenin.

Pepper said about a month ago someone called him to report the appearance of an emu running through the woods just miles from his farm on Dutch Ridge Road.

"I told them I only have one emu and it was still there," said Pepper, who is also a Charleston lawyer. "But that might have been an ostrich that someone confused for an emu."

Benedict Haid Farm, which is about three miles from where the egg was found and about a half hour's drive from downtown Charleston, has one emu and seven ostriches.

Pepper said the shell of an ostrich egg is dimpled like a golf ball and thicker than that of a chicken egg - about an eighth of an inch thick.

Pepper's description matches the characteristics of the Farley's find, but now the question is not "what," but "how?"

"How would an egg get three miles from the farm?" Rosie wondered.

Pepper said ostriches lay eggs only in warm weather. He has not seen one of his large birds lay an egg in three to four weeks.

Phillips, the naturalist, also said that wild birds are not laying eggs this time of the year.

"I wonder if the West Virginia Mothman found a girlfriend," Phillips joked.

Pepper does not believe one of his ostriches has escaped.

"I don't keep an accurate count so maybe one of mine got loose, but I really don't think so," Pepper said. "Someone on the farm would have told me."

"Besides they make no attempt to get loose. They got it made and they don't jump the fence," he said.

Phillips suspects other wildlife is to blame.

"If he's not missing any ostriches, probably what has happened is a coyote, raccoon or bear has rolled it that far," Phillips said. "It wouldn't be impossible for a dog to move something like that, too."

However, Phillips said he doesn't understand why a bear or raccoon couldn't have figured out how to crack open the egg.

Pepper said it is hard to believe an animal could get a four-pound egg three miles to the place where Farley found it.

"I don't see how an animal could have done that," Pepper said.

Pepper and Phillips suspect a prank.

"The only other thing I can think of is one of the neighbors did it as a joke to see if a hunter would find it," the naturalist said.

However the egg ended up in the woods, Pepper said the Farleys have a new but foul-smelling treasure in their possession.

"There is nothing in there but a bunch of slime and goo," Pepper said. "Chances are it will be the most horrific smell they have ever smelled."

Pepper recommends the couple drill a hole in the bottom with a quarter-inch drill bit and blow out the contents with a tire pump. Then he says they should soak it in bleach.

An ostrich egg is valued at $10 to $15, he said.

"People carve them and paint them," Pepper said. "They are very pretty. You can a buy a stand for them."

That's exactly what the Dutch Ridge residents plan to do.

"I'd like to find out what it is, drill it and keep it as a souvenir," Rosie said.

Although the chances of a baby ostrich surviving are extremely slim, Rosie can still dream.

"If it hatched, I'd probably pen it up and take care of it," Rosie said. "And if it was big enough, I'd probably saddle it up."

http://www.dailymail.com/News/Kanawha/200911250737?page=2&build=cache

(Submitted by Chad Arment)

Escaped ostrich rampage ends in truck death

By TOM PHILLIPS - Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Two ostriches went on the rampage after they escaped from a Cheshire farm - but their adventure ended in tragedy, as one of them was killed on a motorway.

The birds, which stood over four feet tall, went on the run in Helsby, Frodsham.

One of the ostriches strayed onto the M56 and died after it veered into the path of an oncoming truck. The driver was not injured by the ostrich impact, but his vehicle was damaged, police said.
Its fellow fugitive managed to evade authorities for a further two hours, before it was eventually captured in a field.

The public were warned not to approach the birds, which can run at up to 45mph and are known to be aggressive if they feel threatened.

A Cheshire Police spokeswoman said: 'Despite officers' best attempts to contain both animals one of the creatures made its way onto the M56 and was in collision with a Heavy Goods Vehicle.

'The RSPCA, the owner of the ostrich, and police patrols contained the second ostrich in a field and it was returned to its owner.'

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?Escaped_ostrich_rampage_ends_in_truck_death&in_article_id=754896&in_page_id=2

Escaped ostrich rampage ends in truck death

By TOM PHILLIPS - Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Two ostriches went on the rampage after they escaped from a Cheshire farm - but their adventure ended in tragedy, as one of them was killed on a motorway.

The birds, which stood over four feet tall, went on the run in Helsby, Frodsham.

One of the ostriches strayed onto the M56 and died after it veered into the path of an oncoming truck. The driver was not injured by the ostrich impact, but his vehicle was damaged, police said.
Its fellow fugitive managed to evade authorities for a further two hours, before it was eventually captured in a field.

The public were warned not to approach the birds, which can run at up to 45mph and are known to be aggressive if they feel threatened.

A Cheshire Police spokeswoman said: 'Despite officers' best attempts to contain both animals one of the creatures made its way onto the M56 and was in collision with a Heavy Goods Vehicle.

'The RSPCA, the owner of the ostrich, and police patrols contained the second ostrich in a field and it was returned to its owner.'

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?Escaped_ostrich_rampage_ends_in_truck_death&in_article_id=754896&in_page_id=2

Could a big cat be to blame for death of Olivia the ostrich?

From The Guardian: 27 Jan. 2009

Riddle of 7ft bird found decapitated at Somerset zoo

Steven Morris

They are not having too much luck with their ostriches at the Noah's Ark Zoo Farm in Somerset.

Just last year their fiery male, Oscar, died after battering himself against a fence while trying to get to a group of tempting-looking emus on a faraway hill.

And today, keepers at the zoo in Wraxall, near Bristol, are trying to work out what terrible fate has befallen Olivia, one of their two female ostriches.

Horrified staff found Olivia very much dead, her head bitten clean off. At first they assumed a tenacious fox had slipped through the deer fence and somehow managed to bring down the 7ft-tall bird.

But from the shadows, big cat experts have emerged to suggest that it might just have been one of the wild cats that, some believe, prowl areas of the south-west of England.

Chris Hall, of Big Cats in Britain, said: "There have already been several sightings in the Bristol and Gloucester area so it's quite likely that one of the beasts is to blame.

"Ostriches are no pushover and it would have been a very strong creature to try its luck with such a formidable bird."

The run of bad luck for the zoo's ostrich flock began when Oscar started charging a fence.

Zoo owner Anthony Bush said: "We rang up Oscar's owner and asked him why. He told us that Oscar had been in love with some emus. There happened to be two emus in the next-door field."

Bush moved the emus to where they really belonged - the Australasia section of the zoo - and thought the problem would be solved. Sadly, from the Africa area, Oscar could still see the emus.

He began charging another section of fence until he knocked himself senseless. The vet was called but could not save him.

Bush said he believed it was possible a big cat was in the area. Indeed, a sheep had recently been badly mauled, prompting one keeper to sleep out in the hope of seeing a big cat.

But he believes Olivia may have been spooked by a fox, bashed herself against a fence and then, once she had been incapacitated, lost her head to a fox.

"The sad thing is that if Oscar had still been around he would have seen off the fox. The females are more placid and easily spooked. They are creatures of very little brain."