Fright as calf born with five legs

Jonathan King got the fright of his life when he helped deliver a calf with five legs.


The Reporoa dairy farm manager said he thought it was a bit odd to find the calf with an extra leg attached to its neck when he and farm worker Ben Shaw helped a struggling cow give birth recently.

"At first I thought I was dreaming as I gave it an extra tug," he said.

"I thought 'that's not right'. It was a bit odd ... It's like an extra shoulder on its neck with a hoof on it."

However, the animal isn't at all perturbed by the extra limb draped across her neck - she's doing everything every other growing calf is doing.

"She's perfectly healthy," he said. "In fact she's really healthy and not fazed at all by it." He's not sure what went wrong but another calf born this season had no tail and a few years back one was born with a third eye while another didn't have any bones.

"I think something strange must have happened at the last mating. I reckon it could have something to do with the new staff," he said jokingly.

"It's weird though because it's a Friesian calf but the extra leg looks like an angus."

He plans to put the animal on Trade Me but if it doesn't get any bites she's heading for the freezer.

"I might get an extra corn beef off that extra leg," he told The Daily Post.

Odd One: Reporoa dairy farm manager Jonathan King with the Friesian calf born with an extra leg, seen draped across its neck.

Reporoa veterinarian Mike Beavon said it was unusual for an animal to be born with an extra limb but not impossible.

"Most vets see the odd lamb with five or six legs every season," he said.

Chef finds octopus with extra leg

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. - Nineopus. Novopus. Freak of nature.

Whatever you want to call it, the nine-legged octopus probably had a leg up on all the other creatures in the Gulf of Mexico -- until it was caught and found its way to Hellas Bakery and Restaurant in Florida.

Head Chef Emmanuel Psomas says he was steaming the octopus Thursday when he discovered that it seemed, well, leggier than normal. Psomas says he's cooked octopus for 40 years -- it's a Greek delicacy -- and has never seen one with an extra leg.

He says he counted the legs three times in disbelief.

"I'm like, this can't be," Psomas said. "I've seen a lot of octopus."

He's keeping the octopus in his refrigerator for now, but he plans to enjoy it soon with a bit of vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil and herbs.

While unusual, marine experts say the extra leg on the octopus is likely due to genetic mutation.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2010/04/03/13453656-ap.html

Snake with foot found in China

A snake with a single clawed foot has been discovered in China, according to reports.

Published: 10:30AM BST 14 Sep 2009

Dean Qiongxiu, 66, said she discovered the reptile clinging to the wall of her bedroom with its talons in the middle of the night.

"I woke up and heard a strange scratching sound. I turned on the light and saw this monster working its way along the wall using his claw," said Mrs Duan of Suining, southwest China.

Mrs Duan said she was so scared she grabbed a shoe and beat the snake to death before preserving its body in a bottle of alcohol.

The snake – 16 inches long and the thickness of a little finger – is now being studied at the Life Sciences Department at China's West Normal University in Nanchang.

Snake expert Long Shuai said: "It is truly shocking but we won't know the cause until we've conducted an autopsy."

A more common mutation among snakes is the growth of a second head, which occurs in a similar way to the formation of Siamese twins in humans.

Such animals are often caught and preserved as lucky tokens but have very little chance of surviving in the wild anyway, especially as the heads have a tendency to attack each other.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/6187320/Snake-with-foot-found-in-China.html

Six-legged cow found in China

by: Tom Chivers
12 June 2009

HOW now, weird cow?

A zoo in China is the proud owner of the latest bizarre bovine – a six-legged cow.

The six-year-old beast lives in Yichang zoo in Hubei Province, China, where it is something of a tourist attraction.

Over the past few years we’ve seen a few of these strange creatures – including a six-legged frog and a two-faced kitten – but they don’t seem to be running out.

This one is particularly entertaining as the two spare legs seem to be sticking out of its backside.
Perhaps this is what Americans are talking about when they say “bum steer”.

http://www.thelondonpaper.com/thelondonpaper/weird/odd-news/six-legged-cow-found-in-china

Seven-legged calf dies after birth

Tuesday, May 26, 2009
It's an unlucky No. 7 for a calf born with a few extra legs in Colorado.
A veterinary hospital helped deliver a seven-legged calf last week.

The staff at the Steamboat Veterinary Hospital said the Black Angus calf, which was delivered by cesarean section, had two spines but one head. One leg also had two hooves. The calf lived for only 10 minutes.

Vet Lee Meyring says the birth was an incomplete splitting of the embryo into twins.

He says he had previously seen a calf with a fifth leg, but the seven-legged calf was the most bizarre he has seen.

The hospital says the calf's owners do not want to be identified.

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?Seven-legged_calf_dies_after_birth&in_article_id=671280&in_page_id=2

It's a frog. With seven legs.

It's been a while since we had a good animal with an unexpectedly large number of legs. We are pleased to rectify that situation now, as we present to you A Frog With Seven Legs.

The Frog With Seven Legs was found at a restaurant of Zhuzhou, Hunan Province, China. That is pretty much all we know about The Frog With Seven Legs.

This has been your Frog With Seven Legs update. Thankyou for reading.

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?Its_a_frog._With_seven_legs.&in_article_id=554090&in_page_id=2