The Real Reason Johnny Cash Once Fought An Ostrich

Johnny Cash didn't bring a gun to his ostrich fight. He recalls in his autobiography, via Far Out magazine, that after the ostrich hissed at him one too many times, Cash picked up a "stout six-foot stick" in order to show the angry bird "I was the boss." He did his best Babe Ruth impression, only to find out that the ostrich called the shots. After Cash swung for the fences and missed, the bird swatted him into the air with its big toe. But the ostrich didn't swat him just to watch him fly.

This could have easily been a death blow. As Britannica describes, ostrich kicks can kill a lion. But according to Cash, "All he did was break my two lower ribs and rip my stomach open down to my belt, If the belt hadn't been good and strong, with a solid belt buckle, he'd have spilled my guts exactly the way he meant to." Then it fractured three more of Cash's ribs. Luckily, the partially dissected singer still had the guts and wherewithal to keep swinging and struck the bird on the leg. The ostrich ran away, but not before turning the Man in Black black and blue.

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