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Thursday, October 21, 2010

My Goodness












Most of you have probably seen the comical ad campaign for Guinness during the 1950's in which the frantic zoo keeper is always trying to save his refreshing beer from the thirsty wild animals. Well, zoo keepers truly did have something to worry about... especially when it came to the ostriches.

The black and white image of miscellaneous items above was taken by Frederick W. Bond, a photographer at the Zoological Society of London. Along with more conventional photographs of the animals in the London Zoo, he also photographed objects retrieved from the inside of an ostrich's stomach. A list of what the bird swallowed was noted on the back of the print.

Most likely the ostrich had snatched items from guests at the zoo, as well as any other random bits within it's reach. The ostrich managed to ingest a lace handkerchief, one buttoned glove, a length of rope, a man's handkerchief, coins, metal tacks, staples, hooks, and a four-inch nail... and you thought toddlers were bad!

4 comments:

  1. Yikes! I new they liked to grab things but had no idea it was that bad!

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  2. My toddler is handful enough, I couldn't imagine if I had to stop him from eating stuff like this.

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