An ostrich has boldly gone where no ostrich has ever gone before. The six-foot-tall bird, who apparently didn't feel like hiding its head in the sand, escaped from the back of a cargo van on the Golden Gate Bridge on Monday, stopping evening commute traffic in both directions and sending dozens of tourists racing for their cameras. The ostrich, a female, got loose around 4:45 p.m. from the rear of the northbound van, which was heading for a Healdsburg vegetable farm, California Highway Patrol sergeant Wayne Ziese said. 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.''
| Clever, clever ostrich. |
Bridge police officers, Highway Patrol officers and a bridge tow truck driver helped Love corral the ostrich inside a garage used by bridge tow trucks. The ostrich round-up took about 10 minutes. "It was quite an adventure," Love said. "Strange things always seem to happen with ostriches. I guess this proves it.'' Ziese said the bird suffered "minor road rash" but was otherwise not injured. Love was not cited. "We've never had an ostrich on the bridge before,'' Ziese said. "This is a first.''
"Ostriches are usually 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.''