Friday, December 19, 2008

For Jody





4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wade, care to comment on the displacement of the forelegs on the zebra? It appears similar to that of the thing with the big horns in the prior photographs. Is this a normal posture in zebras, is it an illusion due to photographic method, or is it a similar condition?

I was never fond of zebras and carefully avoided those few that I ever encountered so I never paid attention to their stance or posture.

Wade G. Burck said...

Warren,
Interesting that you should note that as nobody else did, and they say "the public doesn't know the difference." There might be a lesson here folks. Below is a partial answer I posted on the pictures above in a response to my dear friend Henry Edgar. I should "have added nutrition or lack of it will also cause that. I tend to lump that into poor genetics for myself and I shouldn't, folks might misinterpret. The poorer the genetics the more of an impact proper nutrition will have is the point.

I love animals as much as you do Henry. But I love them in a different way. Steve noted the dead trunk on the elephant. I was waiting for somebody to point out the poor shape it and it's skin was in. In addition it's nails should have been trimmed long ago. It is old, and should have stopped working long ago. Note the Watusi calf,(the red thing with the big horns below) and the zebra below that. Note their "splayed" front legs. That is either due to genetics or environment, or the surface they are standing on. As the other two calves are not splayed and you don't slip in 2 foot of sawdust, we can rule out the flooring. That leaves us with genetic or cheap animals poorly bred, or their environment where they live. It is typical in both situations."
Wade

Anonymous said...

You can't "rule out flooring" unless you know how long each animal has been there, can you? Or what other physical condition issues it has? My dog slips all the time on my wooden floors because she's in terrible physical condition from early neglect (not by me) but other dogs walk just fine on the same floors.

Wade G. Burck said...

Anonymous,
Don't be so enthusiastic. We are not talking a wood floor here, I pointed out they were on 2 foot of sawdust, so guess what it's permanent. But you are right, the same thing will happen on a concrete or asphalt surface. It will also occur by pacing/turning in to small of an area. It is called "weaving." Some horses, particularly stallions, confined to a stall with out proper exercise will actually damage their suspensor tendons permanently.
What in the world does a dog, have to do with exotics? But thank you for the insight.
Wade