It was a very long time ago that I visited the farm of ostriches in Ishioka, Ibaraki. I watched a TV program about this farm recently and I realized that it has continued breeding ostriches for a very long time. Also, I found out that there is a huge ostrich egg on which we can step and it can never be broken by the weight of a human. So I wanted to visit there for a second time.
It takes about 20 minutes from the Ishioka Highway exit by car, and it exists in the countryside. The entrance fee is relatively high at 1,200 yen per person, however, it is worth paying because there are so many animals. First, we went to the main farm where over fifty ostriches live because the person in charge said that “all of them will come to you when you are close to the fence”. Just as she said, they got closer to us when we got there. They might’ve been curious about us and also had their eyes on some feed that we bought at the reception. After we enjoyed feeding them, we moved to the South Ranch.
There were so many animals including birds, alpacas, ponies, and so on. Almost all of the cages could be entered freely, however, we couldn’t go into the capybara’s cage. The caution sign in front of the cage read, “They are very dangerous! They bite your groin and bite off your clothes. Do not enter the cage!” I didn’t know they were so brutal with such cute faces. I also found another caution sign on the cage of the horned owl: “You’ll get bitten by him”. Fortunately, he was sleeping at that time. The other warning was the heads-up about the horrible behavior of some alpacas: “Caution! Some alpacas will spit on you. The most dangerous alpaca’s name is Daichi. ” I moved away from the fence immediately because he was coming toward me.
Of course, I checked the strength of an ostrich eggshell and returned to the reception. Next to the main building, there were indoor barbeque pits, and I remembered that a creepy instruction panel was on the wall in the past: “After enjoying many animals, let’s eat a lot!”. However, I couldn’t find the same panel this time. You can purchase frozen ostrich meat at the reception and taste ice cream made from ostrich eggs. It is highly recommended for animal lovers.
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