This blog entry requires immediate attention. More often than not I find myself slacking in the blog-writing department; today is different.I went on an adventure with Rob, whos is currently visiting from back home, and Jen, a wonderful 3-citizenship-holding girl who seems to know all the secrets of Granada and surrounding area. We rented bikes and tore out of Plaza Nueva at 10:30. We rode for some time, an hour or so, until I stopped the line because I saw a very large bird in someon`s yard beside the trail. It turned out to be an ostrich. After snapping a few pictures, a few guys on bikes flew by. The ostrich was startled and bolted. It didn`t get far. One leg got caught in the handle bars (a full metal circle) of a teeter-totter and the bird went DOWN. It flailed wildly, only to get its other leg caught. We searched out help but no one was home at any house in sight. 20 minutes passed of ostrich self-mutalation until we decided we had to interveine. I found an old stick some 2m in length. Leaning over the fence I tried to pry its leg free... at this point both legs were already quite bloody. The stick was neither long enough or strong enough. Using my leatherman I sawed a living tree and fashioned a much more appropriate pry-bar. I guided the stick to the bottom of the ostrich`s foot and pushed hard: it fame free. It`s other leg was still caught, however not nearly as badly. Because of the ostrich`s position (laying beside the teeter-totter panting and terrified) I wasn`t able to force the other leg free. It was clear that the bird was exhausted so we decided
to let it regain some strength and maybe it would free iteslf. After another 5 minutes it seemed a good idea to ask for help. A man walking with his toddler son approached and we explained the situation. Without much consideraiton, he hopped the fence and began pushing the ostrich`s leg with his bare hands - his toddler son watching all the while.Knowing the capabilities of an ostrich let alone a trapped, scared, angry, and bloody ostrich was enough to keep me on my side of the fence. The man so close to the ostrich made me quite nervous, if not for his own safety then for ours: it would be a lasting scar in my mind, let alone his son`s, to see this man brutalized by kicks and head buts from such a large bird. Yet, this fearless spaniard was able to force our feathered friend`s other leg out of the metal ring with and happily hop back over to use his son`s baby wipes to clean the blood off his hands...
Aside from the bloody ostrich, we had a great bikeride in the countryside, visited a pretty small town, and bought some local cheese, sausage, bread, and 5L of their pueblo-branded wine :)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ostrich
