Seven-legged calf lives short but glorious life

What is it about animals born with extra limbs that we find so amazing? Maybe it's that we just feel sorry for the little guys? Or maybe it's that we've always wanted be able to run and walk at the same time?

Whatever the souce of our fascination, we were inspired and also saddened this week by the tale of a heroic Black Angus calf born with three extra legs.

The unnamed calf was delivered at the Steamboat Vetinary Hospital in Colorado, USA, with seven legs and two spines.

Sadly the animal only lived for ten minutes, not long enough to truly make the most of his remarkable body. But we take some solace from the fact that the calf probably knew how special he was, right until the end.

Indeed, as the saying goes: "it's better to live one day as a tiger than a lifetime as a sheep, but ten minutes as a seven-legged megacow beats them all into the dust."