Despite buying two Doberman pinschers to guard the 500 automobiles in his 25-acre junkyard in Lambert, Miss., Fletcher Haynes was getting ripped off. Thieves were filching wheels, radiators and other parts. The dogs were useless, and, says Haynes, "I just got disgusted."

Haynes, 54, didn't bury his head in the sand, though. He also has a 3,000-acre farm with 50 varieties of creatures, including a camel and two zebras. At an animal auction in Texas last spring, he saw a four-year-old ostrich viciously pecking at passersby. Haynes recalls, "I decided, 'That's what we need.' " He spent $450 for the 300-pound, seven-foot Oscar and shipped him to Lambert. Nary a windshield wiper has disappeared from Haynes's junkyard since. Oscar now has his own monogrammed shed in a small corral, a sprinkler system and plenty of dog food, among other sustenance. So far he hasn't even delivered a swift kick in anger. Says Haynes, "No one's been brave enough to go in there at night."