Semi-weekly south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1883-1889, 1884-06-27
HUNTING OSTRICHES.
Peculidritics Of the Monster Bird.

From the New York Evening Post.l
Mr.. Charles Reiche imported six
chicks in 1875 from Nubia, Africa, ex-
pecting to keep them until full-grown,
when they would be valuable for show
purposes. AS they are birds which re-
quire great deal of room, it was easier
to transport them when young than
when they attain full size. The six were
taken to Hoboken when about four
months old and seemed to thrive well
they ate voraciously whatever was Of
fered to them even stones as big as a
mans fist, nails, oyster shells, etc. They
grew so fast that the experiment was
considered highly successful ore until
one after another they began to die from
some mysterious cause which was not
discovered until their bodies were dis
sectcd. 1t was then found that many of
their bones were broken and that the
rich food, and too much of it, had
caused them to become heavy and fat
before the bones were large enough to
support the weight of their bodies. The
bone structure had not kept pace with
the flesh. The food had been too rich.
Mr.. Reiche has two men in Nubia and
two in Cape Town on the lookout for
ostriches. The method of catching them
at present is as fol lows: The agent en-
cages half dozen hunters, to whom he
pays no wages, but whose expenses he
defrays. Mounted on good horses,
these men track herd Of ostriches, who
are found in the desert usually feeding
on wild melons growing in the sand and
on bean known to the natives as durah.
The herds vary in numbers from fifteen
to fifty adults, each male bird having in
subsection several females. When the
huntsmen appear the whole herd takes
to flight, but, owing to the habit of run
ming in circles, good horseman can
make short work of the swiftest ostrich.
The adults are shot or strangled and the
chicks are tied by the legs and carried
off. The feathers of the old birds be-
long to the huntsmen, who are paid in
this way for the work. Instead of pull
ing out the feathers of the dead birds
the natives skin tho birds, and, sailing
the hides with arsenic and salt to pre-
vent decomposition, send them to Lon
don in that state. The young birds are
then fed with any kind of grain and sent
to Germany, which is the great market
for wild animals OF all kinds.
In hunting the birds many eggs are
sometimes found, which, during the ex-
pedition in the desert, are eaten by the
natives, one egg weighing nearly three
pounds. The eggs III the nest are placed
upright and usually covered with sand,
the heat of the sun aiding Naturalization
during the day, while the bird sits on
them at night. Around each nest is a
circle of eggs which are not touched, but
serve as food for the chicks when they
leave the shell.
Ostrich hunting is apt to be danger
GUS business 10 any one not familiar
with their modes of attack. One of Mr..
Reiche's white agents was killed last
year by an ostrich which literally ripped
the man open with its powerful claws
When transporting ostriches in ship
they are kept in separate cages. mex
perienced animal dealers have sometime
allowed ostriches with other animals
such as goats and deer, the ostrich end
ing by killing its companions, and os
triches have been known to kill hyena
md other fierce beasts, which, gettinl
out Of their cages, attacked them.