Possum will fit beside the stuffed croc
‘‘People don’t expect to go in the freezer and find things like that.’’ Glen James
When someone goes digging in Glen James’ freezer, they may be in for a bit of a surprise.
The Nelson jeweller made an unusual purchase on Wednesday afternoon – an albino possum.
The dead marsupial, which was listed on Trade Me in the antiques and collectibles category, could be New Zealand’s most popular possum, with more than 16,000 views.
Mr James said he only became aware of the sale when a friend showed him a picture of the possum during the final minutes of the auction. ‘‘I quickly put a bid on.’’ He made a last-minute bid of $270 for the possum, but ended up in a bidding war with another buyer before making the winning offer of $350. He said he would have bid up to $400.
While Mr James is not sure how he will get his new acquisition to Nelson, he said he was in no rush.
When it did arrive, it would go straight into the freezer, along with a number of deer capes, he said.
‘‘People don’t expect to go in the freezer and find things like that.’’
The animal will be stuffed before being placed on a branch inside his house, next to his stuffed crocodile.
Mr James said he had yet to tell his sons, aged 6 and 9, about the purchase, but said
freshwater they would not be fazed by it.
Some people he had told about the purchase thought he was a ‘‘bit of an idiot’’, but those who knew him well expected that he would buy something odd like an albino possum.
He said he often surprised people when he told them he was a jeweller who was also into hunting.
He was pleased with his purchase, and was happy that the money went to a good cause.
The auction raised money for the Endeavour Inlet Conversation Trust, which does trapping in the Queen Charlotte Sound area of the Marlborough Sounds and builds penguin shelters.
Trust volunteers Mathea Roorda and Keran Duley discovered the dead possum in a tree on the Queen Charlotte Track on Sunday.