Strolling through the spectacular scenery of the Maitai Valley, New Zealand, in August 2022, I chatted away to my friend, Cheryl, as our dogs trotted along beside us.
Suddenly, my neighbour’s dog, Rome, sped off in front of us.
“Rome,” I called. “Get back here.”
We headed after him and found him in a blackberry bush. He was next to a dead adult possum, which he’d clearly killed.
“Oh, Rome,”I said.
I heard a squeak.
Moving closer to the possum, I saw there was a joey attached to it.
It was pink and hairless, with massive eyes.
“It looks a lot like Gollum,”Cheryl, 63, said.
Possums are an introduced pest in New Zealand, but still, I knew if we left it there it would die. So I took it home…