After nearly 25 years spent in an enclosure at a residence in Lake County, Big O — a 7-foot-tall Somali Ostrich — is in the process of being adopted by the Crazy Critters animal rescue facility in Eustis.
Cherrice Purvee, who runs Crazy Critters as a two-person operation with her husband, Ken, said the Lake County Sheriff’s Office reached out to them in need of a new home for Big O as his keeper reaches the later stages of her battle with cancer.
While they had planned to raise an ostrich at some point, Purvee said the couple jumped at the opportunity to have Big O at their private animal facility.
“Lake County reached out to us because there was nowhere else for him to go, but this was our response, and you can print this if you want: Hell yeah!” she said. “We were just happy.”
Crazy Critters, located along County Road 44A in Eustis, is a non-profit organization that serves as a permanent home for animals — turtles, parrots, frogs, lizards and more — with nowhere else to go or owners unable to take care of them.
Ken Purvee of Crazy Critters Inc. feeds a treat to Big O, a 7-foot Somali Ostrich soon to be adopted and rehomed to Purvee’s animal rescue facility in Eustis. (Photo provided by Cherrice Purvee)
Flush with enough space at their facility, but in need of a few thousand dollars for supplies like fencing, gates and a pole barn, Purvee and Crazy Critters are raising money to transport Big O to their facility and house him as a permanent resident by selling plants through the Crazy Plants nursery on their property.
“We already have one yard finished for him, but we really need a second yard that we can keep him in when we service an enclosure to make it safe for everybody,” she said.
Somali Ostriches can often live 70 to 75 years in captivity with proper care, according to Purvee, but only 25 to 40 years in the wild. Big O, who was bred in another state, turned 25 in September.
“He was delivered before he was a year old with a female who passed away due to transportation stress, and he had a broken leg,” Purvee said. “He’s perfectly fine now, and she had a vet come in and take a look at him. But that was the last human interaction he ever had was that day.”
County officials with the sheriff’s office and animal shelter have been attempting to find Big O a home for nearly a decade, striking agreements with zoos or animal facilities willing to take him before conversations broke down or one side backed out.
Purvee said the county is helping to facilitate transport for Big O, making sure he has the experts necessary to move and place him without too much stress.
Big O, a 7-foot Somali Ostrich, stands in his enclosure at a private residence in Lake County. He is in the process of being adopted as a permanent resident by animal rescue facility Crazy Critters Inc. (Photo provided by Cherrice Purvee)
“The sheriff’s office is volunteering their trailer truck, and we’ve been working with a county officer who has worked with this little old lady for a long time; she’s very happy to finally get Big O placed,” she said.
After working with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission for nine months, this is the lengthiest rescue Crazy Critters has ever embarked on. Once Big O is on the property, Purvee said they must house him for at least one year — under FWC guidelines — to acquire enough hours for the Class II wildlife permit to “display him properly” at the facility.
“We don’t have an ostrich permit either, but we’re housing him in the agricultural sense under the state’s rules,” she said. “…We’re still working for another year once we get this rescue here.”
After achieving status as a permanent resident, Big O will be elevated to the rank of educational ambassador, where he will be used to teach about ostriches and other ratite species like emu, cassowary and kiwi.
“Our permanent residents are our educational ambassadors, they are the critters that I photograph and I use to teach people either about conservation and wild populations declining or habitat fragmentation,” she said. “Educational ambassadors are critters that we use to share to the community to improve the future for everybody.”
Contact me at twilkins@orlandosentinel.com or 407-754-4980.
