Ostrich Gunned Down in Act of Revenge

Reuters:

A US man was sentenced to five months in jail after he and a friend, acting on wounded pride, gunned down an ostrich named Gaylord that had kicked them as their female companions laughed, a newspaper reported.

"This whole thing is about male pride,'' prosecutor Steve Wagstaffe said, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The powerful flightless bird kicked Timothy McKevitt, 19, and Jonathon Porter, 21, last October when they trespassed on an ostrich ranch south of San Francisco after a night of drinking, the paper cited lawyers as saying.

As the startled bird attacked, the women began to laugh, prosecutors said. McKevitt was kicked in the ribs and knocked over, while Porter suffered scrapes and bruises.

The two men returned with a rifle and shotgun seeking revenge, the Chronicle said. They fired at least seven shots at Gaylord, according to a police report.