Ostrich on the Golden Gate

On a lighter note comes this picture, accompanied by this story from the San Francisco Chronicle on August 30, 2005.

An ostrich, which was purchased by Ronald Love of Love Farms shortly before it was to have faced the butcher's chopping block, fell out of Love's cargo van onto the Golden Gate Bridge.

A sudden acceleration of the van caused the bird to smash through the rear window and land on the bridge pavement, just north of the toll plaza.

"It should never have happened,'' said the driver of the van, Ronald Love. "The ostrich's butt broke the window. You never would think an ostrich could fit through a little window, but she did.''

The Highway Patrol took about ten minutes to round up the ostrich. Highway Patrol sergeant Wayne Ziese said this was the first ostrich on the Golden Gate.

"Ostriches usually are very gentle,'' said Love. "An ostrich is easier to keep than a goldfish. Unless it's been too long in the back of a van, I guess.''