Look at this big gal! I wasn’t expecting to meet her! If you think she looks surprised, you should have seen Jim’s face. My first thought was that I was looking at Dr. Seus’s Grinch. You have to admit, she looks just like a friendlier version of the grinch…. except she isn’t green. And look at those eyelashes!
We have Holler Ostrich. Actually we don’t have any, but a fellow Hollerite has two. Personally, I don’t see the practicality of pet ostrich for us. I mean they can grow to nine feet, and weigh up to 320 pounds! And they can have attitudes. You can clearly see this guy’s attitude. Would you cross him? Apparently even lions don’t like to mess with ostrich and I can see why.
I think a 9 foot tall, 300 pound, attitudinal bird, that can run 43 mph, makes perfect sense in Africa, but less sense at The Holler. They aren’t your average canary after all. They can kill lions, and are the fastest two-legged creatures on earth!
Check out these female wild southern ostrich in Kruger. Aren’t they gorgeous? They are ballerina stepping, tutu wearing, high plains kickers! The Rockettes of South Africa! You go girls…..
And look how content they are. We saw two groups of ostriches. Females you are looking at here, and another group of males.
Contrary to common belief, ostrich do not hide their head in the sand when scared. Pliny the Elder just made that up around 73AD. But, as you can clearly see in this pic, they do hide their heads under their friend’s skirts. Some friends might consider this annoying, but this one seemed cool with it.
Anyhoo, seeing these incredible birds wild and free in Kruger was unexpected and a big thrill! The red necked northern ostrich at The Holler are endangered in the wild, so our neighbor gets my support for raising and caring for them, even though I would prefer to see them wild, free, and protected, in their native habitat.
Cheers to you from these spectacular, nine foot tall birds, with ‘tudes!
Tag: South Africa
African Faces~
There are no other places (curious vervet),
that have African faces (smiling impala).
The animals you see here (Confident Southern Yellow Billed Hornbill)
are full of the joy (Square Lipped White Rhino)
of being free (African Elephant).
Much more free (Kudu)
than you and me (waterbuck).
Wild zebra send cheers to you from the still remaining free creatures of Africa~
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Two Headed Giraffes~
Giraffes know that two heads are better than one.
You can look in two different directions at the same time!
And one head can be used to prod the other along.
Three heads are even better than two,
but more prone to go in different directions.
Eventually they all reach accord.
But four heads?
That’s just too confusing!
Cheers to you from the elegant, intelligent giraffes~
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Stork Fishing & Hippo Surfing African Style~
The Yellow Billed Stork dined on catfish tonite.
The poor catfish was given no say in the matter.
The stork’s eyes seemed bigger than his beak,
and the meal was almost more than he could swallow.
The Purple Herons,
were busy Hippo surfing.
But even they thought the stork caught more than he could swallow!
Cheers to you from Sunset Dam & Lake Panic Bird Hide Kruger National Park~
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Stork V Elephant~
The Saddle Billed Stork was loafing in his pond today,
when the elephants decided he was in their way.
The ellies, snorted, bellowed and chased,
the stork leaped, jumped and flapped.
The ellies were dumbfounded by this unusual stork,
and decided it would be wise to yield the way.
Every stork must have his day!
On borrowed internet. Back to civilization in a few more days. Until then, cheers to you from the remote Oliphants River in Kruger National Park~
