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There once was a Merino sheep named Shrek who lived on a farm in South Island, New Zealand. When he was four years old, he decided to strike out on his own and so he ran away from home. Escaping into the surrounding wilderness, he spent his time happily grazing and exploring the beautiful landscape. To avoid detection he hid in local caves where he knew he’d be safe.
Shrek’s time in the wild came to an end when he was eventually discovered in 2004. To say he had changed a bit would be an understatement. When he left, he had been well groomed with a short fleece coat. When he re-appeared, he was a giant poufy mass of wool. Upon seeing him for the first time after all those years his owner, John Perry, described the elusive sheep as looking like some ancient biblical creature!
While sheep normally get sheared once a year, Shrek hadn’t been sheared in 6 years. Because Merino sheep never shed their fleece like many other types of sheep typically do, it meant Shrek’s coat simply kept on growing. Over the years he was at large he produced a whole lot of wool, so much that it weighed 60 pounds. In fact, the amount of wool he had on him was enough to make 20 large men’s suits.
When he was finally sheared, Shrek looked like a shell of his former self, but in a healthy, good type of way. He could see a whole lot better once it was out of his eyes and he probably felt a lot cooler, not to mention lighter. At the time of his shearing, Shrek had already become a local celebrity in sheep-mad New Zealand. He ended up meeting the prime minister at the time, Helen Clarke, and the countries national television broadcast his amazing transformation for everyone to see. Being a sheep of the people, his fleece was auctioned off with the proceeds going to benefit children’s medical charities.
Shrek’s time in the limelight didn’t end there, he went on to appear in many children’s books and made guest appearances for various charities. Perhaps the highlight of his fame, and the craziest thing he ever experienced, came two years after his initial TV appearance when he was once again sheared on live TV. This time however, he got his haircut while on an iceberg that was floating off the coast of Dunedin, New Zealand!
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