My photo of the day might gross a few of you out but I use these opportunities as a learning curve so here are 2 photos taken today. I found a dead possum in our driveway this morning. It wasnt run over I am not sure how it died but anyway I took some shots (I always do in case I can use it for stock) and I noticed how it's paws looked like little fingers with finger prints on all of the pads. Possums are not good around horses because they can urinate and defacate on the hay and when the horse eats the hay it transfers a parasite to the horse which will lie dormant until it is stressed excessively. The parasite then becomes active and can cause semi paralysis amongst other things. The disease is called EPM (for those interested here is a site where you can read up on it http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/drfenger/ ).The possum female has a pouch which it raises its babies in, similar to a kangaroo, it can have pretty large litters.
Our old stud had it and at age 25 (3 years ago) we eventually had to put him to sleep becaue he had a semi paralysis in his hind quarters and was struggling more and more. His mind was wonderful but his body was giving out.
And for all the horse lovers, here is my horse picture for the day, not a new shot, taken a while back. This has its own funny story. This baby found the feed sack in the turnout and had to pick it up in his mouth. Of course his mother just about had a fit, couldnt figure out what this scary white flappy thing was and started running away. Of course the baby wanted to stay near momma and he ran after her just as fast which made her even more scared. They went round and round a few times. I ran inside to get my camera and snapped one shot before he dropped the sack, and unfortunately he was doing his business at the same time but I always get a laugh when I remember this shot. The mare was looking at it by this time with great suspiscion.
Have a great day.
14 comments:
Hmm, not too keen on the dead possum, interesting but a bit gross as you thought ;-)
I do like the foal though, they're really cute when they are all lanky like that. This shot is made nicer for his mom being in it with him.
And thanks for the tips, I will try it out when I get a chance.
The possum paws are fascinating -- those prints are really something!
I chuckled out loud reading your story about the foal and the feed sack :D I could just picture the little one running after Mom, not sure why she was running away from him!
Enjoy the rest of your weekend! :)
Wow, I've never seen a possum before but those paws are very interesting!
I find the possum paws very interesting. I have seen quite a few possums from a distance, but never had a chance to examine the paws. Great detail!
Your horses do love feed sacks! Cute shot and I like the story behind it.
Lori:
Possum's are not my favorite creature but the images are interesting...
Love the photo of the foal and the feed sack...how funny-I can just see the mom running and the foal trying to catch up...not understanding why mom is running...hahaha...very cute story.
I've enjoyed looking at your photos - what gorgeous horses you have. I'm trying to do a PAD for 2007 too :-)
Oops - I don't use blogger for my blog - I'm here:
http://webdzine.typepad.com/photoalbum
I've never seen a possum and the paws are really something. I once found a dead hedgehog alive with maggots which was really fascinating - well, to me anyway.
I love the horse photo and story. My daughter went riding today so I got my "horse fix" twice over :)
Wish I could comment more but I don't really care about horses :/
I care about horses. The story is fantastic :) The possum paws are a bit gross, but I remember once I made a picture of dead bird as well, so I understand you :)
Yes, I'm with the rest of them, dead possum paws are a bit gross but you're right about it being interesting. I've never seen a possum that close.
I, too, had a horse with EPM so possums are not my favorite creatures.
Of course, I love the horse picture. Never enough horse fixes in a day for me ;-) And Sharon is right, you have gorgeous horses. Great story too, I'm glad you shared it.
quite a macabre post today lori!! haha ... your horses are beautiful though ... especially the foals.
i love visiting your gallery.
cheers
david
super-dave.com
Very interesting images of the possum paws, fantastic detail!!
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