June 19, 2009: Pocket Pet

[xoxoxoBruce]

Pocket pet, or maybe pouch pal.

This extraordinary photograph shows something that looks more like a baby alien than a life form here on Earth.
But it is in fact of a baby kangaroo - still in its mother's pouch, 25 weeks before it will emerge into the world.
As if the image is not astonishing enough, it was only made possible because the mother remembered an act of kindness by humans many years before.

Acclaimed Sydney science and wildlife photographer Jason Edwards captured the endearing moment after the mother allowed him to push a camera into her pouch - but only because she trusted humans.
Mr Edwards was talking with a researcher in the Sturt national park in north-west New South Wales when she mentioned that a female red kangaroo she had hand-raised years earlier before releasing her had returned to the fold.
'The researcher had raised the orphaned baby after its mother had been killed by a car,' said Mr Edwards. 'The researcher let the 'roo go back into the bush five or six years before, and so it had become a wild red kangaroo,' he told Sydney's Daily Telegraph.
~snip~
'She must have had good memories of being raised because that's a rare thing for a mother with a young joey in her pouch,' said 40-year-old Mr Edwards. When he believed he had won the confidence of the mother, he decided he was close enough to try to take a picture of the baby in the pouch.

Quit a remarkable picture, but I think that Joey needs his nails clipped.


link

[zippyt]

Roo Stew ??

[hipshot]

<Desperately searching for some clever way to say "Marsupial Veal"...>

[SPUCK]

Those claws are nasty! How is the mother not eviscerated in the next 20 weeks?

[nil_orally]

Dog food in the making

[Beestie]

The possibilities are endless...

Add a layer of sticky rice, a dash of soy sauce and wasabi for some delicious Kangarooshi;

Three or four on a skewer makes for a tasty shish-kababaroo;

Stew a few in coconut curry takes me to Kangrila;

Time to ice down some Fosters!

[capnhowdy]

Mighty young to already have a joint in his mouth.

[classicman]

Love the nose - that lil guy is gonna be extra cute in 25 weeks!

Oh, and the meat will be so tender. Add a little red wine, some onions and mushrooms, olive oil, rosemary, fresh garlic, Salt & pepper to taste. Serve with a side of asparagus, baby red potatoes drenched in butter and a fresh spring salad, of course. Mmmm.

[Gravdigr]

Looks humid in there.

[glatt]

and not so clean.

[birdclaw]

I think its great. But what is coming out of it's mouth? Umbilical cord? Do they not have belly buttons?

[glatt]

I think (and I'm sure someone will jump in to correct me if I'm wrong) that marsupials are born out of a vagina when they are very tiny, and they have to crawl up to the pouch and get inside it where they then nurse for months and continue to develop. Then when they are finally big enough, they come out of the pouch.

So it would have had an umbilical cord (I guess) when it was in the uterus, but lost it when it was born.

Edit: Turns out I guessed wrong. It seems they don't have an umbilical cord in the uterus. They just live off of the yolk of an egg. Wtf?

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by birdclaw

But what is coming out of it's mouth?

That's her teat.

[Sundae]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

As if the image is not astonishing enough, it was only made possible because the mother remembered an act of kindness by humans many years before.

'She must have had good memories of being raised because that's a rare thing for a mother with a young joey in her pouch,' said 40-year-old Mr Edwards. When he believed he had won the confidence of the mother, he decided he was close enough to try to take a picture of the baby in the pouc

Just for the record - this does not work with female humans.
I don't care what you did for me many years before, you are not taking pictures of my hoo ha.

[birdclaw]

tiny teat.