Sharon’s Blog

Imogen and Karsten…this post is for you. Imogen, during week two of her bike trip, told Karsten that the two of us saw a possum in Fox. Karsten, of course, thought this was no big deal – because there are roadkill possums all over the place. You also occasionally see a carcass hanging on a fence. These things are considered pests. See the big debate about banning 1080, which they use to control their population here and here, almost as media consuming as the Rugby World Cup stadium site selection, but not quite. They do use possum wool in sweaters, scarves, and mittens – mixed with merino. Jenny tells me that it’s very, very warm – might pick up a pair before I go yet. Anyway – Imogen tried to convice Karsten that she saw one live, but he was thinking we had too much wine at that Cafe Plateau that night. While at the St. Clair winery later in the trip, we were looking at some pictures and Imogen knew I had snapped one of the possum after it ran up the tree and was asking me to show it to Karsten as proof. I couldn’t find it, but the glare from the sun made it a bit tough to find it when we were together. But Karsten…here you go. It’s a lousy picture and I’m sure I’ll get a protest comment from the possum, but it is proof. We did spot one live. No kiwis, for me, but future road kill, I’ve seen.