This is me, aged about four, I think, holding onto the front paws of our pet kangaroo, Jodie (the joey). Her mother was shot by accident -- most farmers shoot kangaroos on occasion, as a means of controlling the population, usually, although some do it for meat as well. I don't remember Dad doing it much, but when he did, he would choose bucks rather than does, because of the risk that the doe might have a joey. This one did :( so he brought it home to take care of it. I think my mother just about had conniptions... joeys have such narrow mouths, you can't use a normal baby bottle with them like you can a lamb. We managed to get a little teat-extender (like a rubber tube) from a vet, and fit it into a normal teat, and then also got some special milk from somewhere too, I suppose. She seemed to do OK (although apparently it's not exactly easy to toilet train kangaroos?) and when she got older, we gave her to a wildlife park.
This was one of the ones Dad sent up. A makeshift 'pouch' using a pillow case with a split in the middle, hanging off the pantry door. She used to jump in head-first and then turn herself around so that she was poking her head out like this.
This is me, aged twelve, with Annelamb. I named her after Anne of Green Gables (OF COURSE) and she was awesome. I had a few pet lambs that winter but Anne was the only one who made it. Merinos (the kind of sheep we had) are notoriously bad mothers, so there are often a few abandoned lambs every year, and it just depends how old they are, and how long they've been on their own, as to whether you can keep them alive. When Anne got bigger, we put her in with the other sheep, and I felt so sad because I knew she'd go back to her sheep friends and forget about me. Then a few months later, we brought that mob of sheep in for shearing, and I was looking intently at each one, trying to see if it was Anne (I know you think all sheep look alike, but they don't; each one has a different face, just like people) and then my dad called to me... I ran over to where he was standing, and he pointed out a little sheep, who was standing slightly away from the flock, and when he said, 'Annelamb', she just stood there and looked at him, as if she was trying to remember some past life. It was actually pretty awesome.
Just a picture of me on our lawn, when I was about two, I think. What's funny about this, is when I got the email, I looked at this picture and immediately rang my parents and said, 'Oh my god! J!' I had no idea up until then that we looked so much alike. And in the next one...
which is me at Christmas 1979, when I'm just about to turn four, you can see J changing to look like this, too. She is going to be my little clone :D
I have some others but I think I've packed them up. Will have to get to and scan some in when we move.
Source:
http://ecosopher.livejournal.com/207176.html
The News from http://funyhalloween.blogspot.com