On Friday I packed up a few clothes and had Dave pick up some chips for the drive out there. We each only brought one pair of pants, not knowing what we'd really need.
The drive was incredibly longer than we had expected. We ate most of the snacks. It took two and half hours to finally reach our destination. We ate lamb from their farm for dinner. It was delicious. Then it was time to gear up.
Our surprise would be a favorite Kiwi pass time: possum hunting. Apparently possum fur is worth a lot out here. You can get $100 for a kilo. We got dressed and were out the door. Our transportation around the farm consisted of a John Deer, four wheel golf cart type thing and an old car with no back window so you could sit on the back and be ready to shoot.
We had a few big spotlights which were used to shine at the trees and look for the creature's glowing eyes. It rained all night but I think that just added to the experience.
Dave was able to shoot a few down. I think all his hunting experience in his earlier years gave him an advantage. When it came my turn to shoot, Alex's Dad handed me a gun and said, "Hang on tight." I heard Alex in the background say, "Dad, don't give her that gun. At least let her shoot with the other one first." Or something to that extent. He told me to aim the end of the barrel right in the middle of the eyes. I lined up my shot as best as I could and pulled the trigger. Little did I know that he had given me a 12 gauge shot gun. As soon as it fired it jammed into my shoulder and the barrel came flying up and almost hit me in the face! And needless to say, I missed the ugly little thing. I almost ended up with a black eye or an incredibly bruised face, but luckily I had held on tight enough.
Here is a picture of one of the possums we did manage to shoot. Now as for the plucking of possum fur, here's what happens:
1. Lay it on the ground.
2. Take your bare hand.
3. Physically grab a fist full of hair and pull.
4. Repeat step 3 many times.
It was amazing! The fur came right off. It was also gross and weird. You just grabbed and pulled. So weird. I plucked a few. Dave refused.
I can't remember how many possums we shot, but we got a fair amount. We drove around the fields for a few hours in the wind and rain and loved every minute of it. I have to say I was quite surprised at how much I enjoyed possum hunting. I have found a new love for killing things. Just kidding. I'm sure some of you may think it's terrible that we killed them, but in all defense, when possums were introduced to New Zealand, they populated to quickly and have become a pest to the country and need to be kept to a limit. It was a true kiwi experience I will always remember.
2 comments:
Haha this is both hilarious and disturbing.
that sounds like fun! and yikes about how the gun went off on you.
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