Large Leaps For Ostriches

In a single stride an ostrich can cover 10 to 16 feet.

Picture from Travellers Point

While ostriches can not fly, they are built for running.  The fact that they are the fastest bird species also helps them easily escape predators.  They can maintain a speed of 30 mph for long periods of time, and can even reach up to 40 mph at times. 

They're the fastest bird species, with a maximum running speed of more than 40 mph (64 kph), and they can cover 10 to 16 feet (3 to 5 meters) in a single stride.
Ostriches can maintain a speed of 30 mph (48 kph) for long periods of time, helping them escape nearly any predator.
- See more at: http://www.livescience.com/27433-ostriches.html#sthash.6CGwgK79.dpuf

Ostrich Myth Busted

 One of the biggest myths about an ostrich is that it buries it's head in the sand.  It is exactly that though, a myth.

Picture from NBC News

An ostrich does not bury it's heads in the sand. It only appears so because when they aren't able to run away from danger, they drop to the ground and lay very still. The color of their head happens to blend in with the sand.

8 Common Animal Misconceptions

We do our best here on the Jungle Store Blog to bring you daily interesting animal facts, but we have no problem deferring to someone else from time to time! Youtube user GCPGrey makes all sorts of interesting videos that bust common misconceptions about a variety of topics, and his most recent is about animals! From bats to frogs, here are 8 common misconceptions about animals…

Of course, our regular readers already know the origin of the myth behind lemmings, which we covered in this post. And do people really think the daddy long legs is a spider?

Meet the Real Big Bird

The ostrich is the world’s largest bird. Its eyes, alone, are the largest of any land animal, each measuring almost two inches across. However, even though its body, legs and eyes are huge, its brain is actually one of the smallest in proportion to its size. In fact, just one of its eyes is bigger than its brain.

Bonus fact: Ostriches can’t fly, but they can run up to 43 miles per hour.

African Animals

This is a really cool video of African animals accompanied by an Enya song. Watching it just makes me want to go to Africa and go on a safari to experience it myself!



If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you’ll actually know the name of the oryx when you see him walk across in front of the ostrich. The zebra is not biting his fellow herd-mate, but grooming him. I loved the surprise of the hippos popping to the surface. And even baby hyenas are cute. This video reminded me of those African animals not yet blogged, so I plan to remedy that over the next few days.

If you’d like to hear some real African music while watching more animals, try this video of Kenya music. Warning: it’s 9 minutes long and there are sections with just bird sounds.



Happy New Year!

One big bird!

And not from Sesame Street either. Meet the Ostrich!

It takes 42-46 days for an Ostrich egg to hatch—moms usually take day duty for setting on the egg, and dads the nighttime. An Ostrich chick grows one foot taller each month until it is 7-8 months old. Males can reach a height between 6.9 and 9 feet—they’d make good basketball candidates, except that they aren’t the brightest bird . . . Females are only in the 5.7 to 6.2 foot range.

Last Friday I showed you a video of a kangaroo that packs a punch. An ostrich can deliver a kick of up to 500 pounds per square inch, which could kill a lion!

Some places people ride or race ostrich. Check out the video below. My favorite is the bird that runs in circles even when they are trying to “round him up.”


Jungle Jane