Here's a weird thing. Over a hundred eighty years ago, since there were no native mammals (aside from large bats) someone decided to import a really ugly possum to use for a fur industry. Well, as so often happens when you play with an ecosystem, the possum population exploded, and nobody wanted possum fur.
Problem: what to do with all those ugly possums.
Solution: disguise their ugly fur by spinning it into the lovely New Zealand wool. It's called "possum down"
It's hard to find 100% wool anything here; everything has possum fur in it.
I went into a yard store yesterday and had trouble finding just plain merino wool. The woman said "Most you Americans and Canadians don't like the other kind of wool." I I explained, for me at least, that wool is a renewable resource, while to get possum fur you had to kill the possum.
Solution: create the myth that possum is a delicious delicacy... and maybe soon people the world over will be wanting NZ possum as well as lamb. They better hurry fast...there are now 20 possums for each person in NZ.
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