TEHACHAPI – They can easily run a man down, then knock him to the ground and tear at his flesh with sharp talons.
Sounds like something out of “Jurassic Park,” right? Well, rather than have you for lunch, the largest bird in the world (an herbivore) is more likely to end up on your dinner table.
At least that’s the hope of the Indian Point Ostrich Ranch that inhabits the secluded hills of Tehachapi.
Ostrich has only been on the USDA list of accepted meat sources for 13 years, but for the past 10, the ranch has been selling it.
Tehachapi has been home to several Ostrich ranches over the years.
“I think all the other ranches in Tehachapi are closed up,” said Rebecca Wagner, a ranch worker.
“We’re one of the largest facilities in the western United States,” she said.
According to Wagner, there is such a demand for the meat that the ranch has to contract out to other facilities to handle all the business.
On one end of the ranch lies “the farm,” where several hundred of the birds live and breed until they are processed for shipment, and at the other end are the birds kept for breeding.
“The aggressiveness is bred out of them,” said Wagner. “They’re hardy birds.”
The ranch uses the docile breeding birds so visitors can see them up close.
From schoolchildren to tourists, the ranch offers everything from information on how to cook them to souvenirs that include Beanie Baby ostriches.
“The brain of an ostrich is about the size of a walnut, so they’re pretty stupid,” said Wagner during a tour.
One of the more interesting aspects of ostriches are the eggs, which have shells at one-eighth of an inch thick. They are so thick that unborn chicks have developed a special muscle in their necks specifically for the purpose of breaking through an egg shell.
Soon after birth the muscle atrophies, and is never to be seen again. Tehachapi supermarkets carry ostrich meat, and a few restaurants serve burgers.
So, whether you want to meet them or eat them, the ostrich ranch is part of the community.
“If they were cuddly and cute I’d have a million,” said Wagner. “But they are too mean.”