Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Ostrich escapes pen after barn fire
Ostrich escapes pen after barn fire
CHARLESTOWN >> You never know what you might see driving the roads of Chester County. Friday afternoon, motorists and residents in the Malvern area were startled to see an ostrich running through their neighborhood. The tall bird got out of it’s pen following a fire which destroyed the 1819-era barn at Canter Hill Farms.
“One of the birds in our flock was being picked on (prior to Friday) and we had isolated him near the garden,” said farmer Wayne Grabe who was not at home at the time of the fire. “He panicked when the firetrucks arrived.”
That’s when East Whiteland Fire Chief John DeMarco arrived at the farm, shortly after 3 p.m. when the fire was reported. “I got out of my truck and he was running around checking me, he was up at the top of the property with other turkeys and birds away from the barn,” DeMarco said. “At that time I turned my attention to the fire; about 30 minutes later county radio called and said, and asked if we could contact the owner, police had the ostrich.”
Grabe arrived home, learned of the missing bird and headed towards a development on Yellow Springs Road where it was reported. According to the National Wildlife Foundation, an ostrich can run 30 miles an hour as far as 10 miles.
Around 4:30 p.m. Paula Kocher spotted the bird near Great Valley High School. “The owner tried to catch him but he- her? took off,” she said in an email to the Daily Local News.
“A couple of bikers told me the bird had crossed Route 401,” Grabe said. “We got a couple neighbors and some friends from Whis-
key Hollow Farm to help out. Our trailer was blocked in by fire equipment so Mike Comasky and a friend brought theirs.”
At approximately 5 :47 p.m Anthony Dicamillo spotted the ostrich on Swedesford Road and posted a video of it.
With East Whiteland police trailing it, the bird was eventually cornered in a baseball field at Meadowbrook Manor Park in West Whiteland, five miles from Canter Hill Farm. Grabe was able to get the bird into a trailer and get it home.
Grabe, who runs the farm with his wife, Jeanette, has four children, one of whom is away at college. He said he has raised the ostriches from chicks and sells the eggs, feathers and meat in his business. The 10-acre, Canter Hill Farms is a popular vendor at many farmers markets including: Downingtown, Malvern, Bryn Mawr, Chestnut Hill, Eagleville and Newtown Square. They also supply a number of area restaurants according to Grabe.
Grabe said he lost hay and a number of immature chicks and possibly some larger birds in the fire. He’s waiting for his insurance company to sort out the loses.
He laughed and repeated what his mother in South Africa said when she heard about the fire: “You always have to make a big impression, couldn’t just have a normal fire.”