How's this for a deleted scene?

[kellinator]

Over the weekend atomicnumber51 mentioned to me that one of her yarn companies had sent her a sample skein of some really soft yarn that's partially made of opossum fur.

Possum fur? I'm from the South. I've watched possums from my bedroom window. Though I've never touched one, "soft" isn't the word that comes to mind. Nasty is.

atomicnumber51 explained that apparently New Zealand has an infestation of possums and has been offering a bounty for them. And suddenly I knew what to look for on the ROTK EE:

In between battles, Legolas is standing at the edge of camp firing arrows like a fiend. Gimli walks up.

Gimli: What are you doing, elf?
Legolas: Hunting possums. [gestures to large pile of dead possums]

A gleam comes into Gimli's eyes.

Cut to Gimli chasing around possums and trying to whack them with his axe while muttering dwarven swears.

Comments

[adina-atl.livejournal.com]

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Just got back from New Zealand. The "possum" of NZ is the Australian possum, not the American opposum that frequently gets its name shortened. Different species entirely. The NZ possum is long-haired, not short, and dark-colored, not white. And yes, the fur is incredibly soft.

The possum is an introduced critter in NZ, with no predators to keep its numbers in check, and its literally eating their forests to death.