(Disclaimer: Aunt Meredith may want to avert her eyes during most of the following video montage!)
We only have a few days left on Curacao before we head to Ohio, so even though Josh is having to work a long, five day stretch, we decided to travel to the other side of the island and see something interesting: an Ostrich Farm! It is the largest ostrich farm outside of Africa, and it was fascinating!
We all enjoyed seeing not only ostriches, but emus, potbellied pigs, black-bellied sheep (a warm-weather variety that do not grow thick wool), various farm animals and even a crocodile! (Look closely at the pictures of the neat variety of pigeon we have here, the Bare-eyed pigeon, which looks like it is wearing glasses!)
Ostriches are one of the WEIRDEST animals in God's creation! We learned some neat facts on our tour:
- Ostriches run up to 50 mph for long distances and can change directions without difficulty, which helps them outrun their predators - lions, cheetahs, etc. (but they aren't very bright, so often they keep running long after their pursuer has worn out!)
- In the wild, ostriches can live to about 80 years and in captivity, up to 100 years!
- It is a common misconception that ostriches bury their heads in the ground; this is untrue - their ears are holes at the back of their head and they lay their heads on the ground to hear vibrations and sense if danger is coming long before they could see it. (In the days before binoculars, Africans thought they were actually burying their heads.)
- Ostriches can kill with their powerful kicks - but they can only kick in the forward direction, not to the side or back.
- During the mating season from January through August, female ostriches lay up to 80 eggs! About 50% of them are fertile.
- After ostrich chicks hatch from their eggs, the father bird breaks up the shell with his kicks and the chick eats the shell for added nutrients.
- During rain or intense heat during the day, it is the father bird that spreads his wings to provide shelter for his chicks.
- Ostrich meat is all red, not white like chickens. One chicken egg has many more times the cholesterol of an ostrich egg, so they are very healthy.
- Ostriches have two types of dances: the mating dance and the warning dance. We had the rare pleasure of watching a warning dance! (Check out the final video clip.) The bird gets low to the ground to warn off any danger, but the moment he stands up...you better be far away, because that is when he will kick.
- Ostrich eggs are very strong. They will break if you drop one, but when on the ground, they can withstand the weight of their parent birds - over 400 pounds! (So, we got to test this theory by standing on an ostrich egg!)
Sarah was not a huge fan of the farm and has joined Aunt Meredith in her irrational fear of these weird, two-toed birds! ;-) But the rest of us had a wonderful time and we are so glad we were able to get a little taste of Africa.
3 comments:
Okay, even with the disclaimer, I am drawn to a good field trip and had to watch my nephews and niece. Bad choice, now I am going to sleep and have nightmares, ewwwwww! Thank you Sarah for being the sane one of your family!!!
Who knew ostriches were so interesting!? Though, not sure i'm a fan of them either. But it looks like you all had fun :)
Wow, that's a lot of interesting facts about ostriches. I was hoping to see the kick at the end of the warning dance, oh well.
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