GOING, GOING, GONE: OSTRICHES, PART ONE

(Source of picture:  Website manager's personal collection)

These big birds could reach a full ten feet for an orange.  This postcard gives a scene at a Jacksonville ostrich farm.  The card dates from between 1901 and 1917.  Please see the info below.    

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BIRD POWER -- Ostriches can prove pretty ornery, but that didn't keep them from being displayed in some offbeat attractions.  During the late 1800s & early 1900s, ostrich farms dotted Florida, and Jacksonville boasted its share.  Attracting both locals & tourists, the parks featured ostriches that were ridden like racehorses.  The big birds also pulled small wagons & carriages.  They were harnessed singly or occasionally in pairs.  

During the season when the females laid their eggs, the male ostriches suffered mood swings.  They could get testy, lashing out with their claws.  An ostrich attack can prove fatal to humans.  There are ways, though, to ward off an assault, according to the ostrich farms.  A person can achieve some safety by lying flat, since ostriches can only could kick dangerously at a height of three feet.  This is why a little fox terrier dog can send one of the big birds scurrying, even though an ostrich might charge a man on horseback.

Ostriches also proved destructive.  A tall board fence surrounded the Florida Ostrich Farm on Talleyrand Avenue in East Jacksonville.  This fence kept a couple of carpenters busy, for they constantly renailed boards that the ostriches kicked off.  The owners of the park learned their lesson:  Replace the boards with the nails on the inside!