The scary truth about Ostriches

It's well known that ostriches are the biggest fowl (bird) in the world, but you might be surprised to know they're all the fastest egg-laying animals too, reaching speeds of 75 mph!

The ostrich is able to reach these speeds due to it's long and powerful legs - an attribute which also makes its kick lethal. One swift kick from an ostrich packs a payload that can shatter any bone in the body. But this is not why ostriches are scary.

Believe it or not, ostriches lay between 12-15 eggs at a time, and with each egg weighing approximately 120 lbs, that's 1800 lbs of egg being dropped! So why should you care?

Ostriches inhabit a number of East African countries along the equator, and with the land being heated by the sun year-round coupled with the dense nature of the soil found in these regions, all it would take is two ostriches laying eggs together in the same place to throw Earth off it's Axis.

Scientists say that if 3000 lbs of force is dropped along the equator, the impact would cause a superquake strong enough to tilt the Earth. This is why airplane flightpaths avoid these areas in an event of a crash that would bring the weight of the wreckage to the ground below.

Over the last 45 years animal rights groups and policy makers have been working to relocate ostriches to subvert a potential egg-laying disaster, but little progress has been made.

We can say we're lucky that ostriches by nature will not lay eggs together, but that doesn't rule out an uncharacteristic event. In 2016, two ostriches were observed laying eggs within 16 miles of one another, a marked narrowing of distance than the previous 80 miles detected in 1975.

While we shouldn't be panicking, we also shouldn't remain complacent and ignorant. Without proactive measures in place, a catastrophic egg-lay could potentially take place, and this should be enough to at the very least be concerned about.