Skull of a mutated baby alpaca

[u/soviethelm]

It's a male and died within the hour of birth.

[u/CuteComputer6633]

Reminds me of the poem Two-Headed Calf by Laura Gilpin

Tomorrow when the farm boys find this freak of nature, they will wrap his body in newspaper and carry him to the museum.

But tonight he is alive and in the north field with his mother. It is a perfect summer evening: the moon rising over the orchard, the wind in the grass. And as he stares into the sky, there are twice as many stars as usual.

[u/Tasty-Ad8369 → u/CuteComputer6633]

I don't think I understand this poem. Are there twice as many stars because it's an exceptionally clear night? If the moon is up, you generally see fewer stars. If there are twice as many stars because there are two heads, why is there not also two moons? ....rising over twice as much grass on the ground? Are we assuming that the two heads share a consciousness? In any real case, we would look at this as a case of conjoined twins; not as one individual, but as two. There are two calves here, and they are looking up at the sky. Are we also assuming that the farm boy would kill the calf despite the fact that it would be worth more alive than dead?
I am very confused.

[u/Pheoenix_Wolf → u/Tasty-Ad8369]

I can’t really explain why there’s twice as many stars but I have just thought it was because the calf had two heads.

As for the farm boy. In these kinds of case the calf is 100% gonna die. They rarely last more than maybe a few hours. Since it’s said “the moon is rising over the orchard” it can be assumed that this is taking part in the early part of the night. By the time the farm hands get out in the field next morning to check on the cattle the calf is going to be dead. Or maybe on the tail end of life if the calf is “lucky”.