Toronto ostrich

Man spotted riding an ostrich in Toronto

Have you seen a human man riding a large, stereotypically angry bird in midtown Toronto recently? How about not so recently? Because, apparently, this has been happening for at least two years.

The popular local entertainment brand 6ixBuzzTV posted a viewer-shot video to its Facebook page on Saturday in which someone appears to be riding a full-grown ostrich down the sidewalk along Weston Road.

While it is possible, although frowned upon, to ride an ostrich, such a thing is highly unusual to see in the middle of a large Canadian city.

Fortunately for the sake of anyone within a 10 foot radius of the mystery rider (because like, have you met an ostrich?) the bird is fake. A closer inspection of the video suggests that the "ostrich" rider is wearing some sort of costume involving stilts.

The fact that someone went out for a trot wearing an ostrich suit on Saturday is funny enough on its own, but what makes the story interesting is that this isn't the first time he's been spotted.

The ostrich rider has come up in social media posts several times between 2016 and now, often in the northern parts of Toronto.

Footage of the ostrich near St. Clair and Bathurst back in September of 2016 had people suggesting that the man was a professional performer. At the time, Twitter users reported having seen him at the CNE and different street festivals around town.

Toronto City Councillor Mike Layton wrote in response to one photo on Twitter that the man was wearing a costume from Cirque du Soleil.

Posts dating back to 2015 suggest that there may also be a female ostrich rider, though her bird is slightly less realistic.

More recently, the male ostrich rider has been spotted on the streets of Toronto on at least three different days.

"Tell me I did not see a woman riding an ostrich down weston road," wrote one Twitter user just last night.

"Yup, saw a man riding an ostrich on Bayview Ave today!" wrote someone else on July 14.

As can be seen clearly in the photo above, the ostrich isn't real. At all. Still, it's turning heads wherever it goes and leaving a lot of people in the city curious.

Your days in relative obscurity are over, ostrich rider. Please come forward with your identity at once so that we may all learn what the heck it is you're up to.

Lead photo by

Joe Mihevc


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